NatSemi chips aim to wire more fun into phones

SAN FRANCISCO: National Semiconductor Corp. will unveil on Monday new chips for cell phones that will allow handset makers to offer features like the ability to play digital music files or have lights blink to music when the phone rings.

"If you want to replay an MP3 audio file stored in your phone, you can do that over a speakerphone application and have lights flash," said John Guyatt, senior marketing manager for National Semiconductors’ portable power systems group.

The so-called "disco lighting" feature allows people to add flashing lights to accompany their distinctive phone rings, he said. Users of camera phones will also be able to have a flash function to light up their subjects, he added.

National Semiconductor, based in Santa Clara, California, is offering six new mixed-signal application-specific integrated circuits that will enable those and other new features. "We’re introducing a subsystem that works alongside the cell phone communications engine and allows our customers to quickly offer that type of feature," Guyatt said in an interview before the announcement, which will take place at the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association trade show starting on Monday in New Orleans.

Earlier this month, the company said fourth-quarter revenue would rise 4 per cent to 7 per cent from the third-quarter level. This is largely due to order backlog, particularly for products such as chips that enable cell phones to ring with pop tunes and display color. The overall chip industry is struggling to recover from its worst downturn ever as demand for PCs and other electronics has been hit by a larger economic slump.

National’s new technology will allow companies like Nokia, Motorola Inc. and Kyocera Corp. to differentiate their phones, Guyatt said. "It’s those things that make people buy (new) phones or upgrade."

National Semiconductor also introduced new analog power management systems, to help handset makers optimize battery use with power-hungry features, and a new packaging capability that will squeeze more functionality in a smaller space on one chip, according to Guyatt.

The new chips will be in phones later this year, the company said.