MediaTek Unveils New SoCs for Android Wear, Android TV

MediaTek Unveils New SoCs for Android Wear, Android TV at CES

MediaTek, the popular mobile chipmaker, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2015) at Las Vegas introduced a range of new SoCs (system on chip) for audio, smart TVs, wearables, wireless connectivity, and more.

The Taiwanese firm says the new MediaTek MT7615 SoC is the most advanced 802.11ac SoC for Wi-Fi connectivity, and is meant to wirelessly deliver HD/ 4K video content and high-speed data with external FEM and MU-MIMO support. The SoC is meant for home routers and enterprises APs.

The chip has been designed with company's 4x4x4 (4Transmitter, 4Receiver and 4Spatial Stream) technology, which enables service providers and enterprises to provide top-performing Wi-Fi experience to their customers. It also combines with MediaTek powerful MT7623 quad-core ARM-based network processing unit, with built-in 1x1 Wi-Fi for sniffer, background scan and spectrum analyzer purposes, plus Bluetooth connectivity for speakers and wearable devices, said MediaTek at CES.

The MT7615 SoC fully complies with IEEE 802.11ac (Wave1 and Wave2) standards, apart from being compatible with IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n standards. It will be available for sampling in Q2 2015 and will go in mass production around Q3 2015.

The company also introduced the MediaTek MT2601 SoC for wearable devices running on Google's Android Wear software. The SoC is already in mass production, and is ready for inclusion by Android Wear device manufactures.

MediaTek says that the MT2601 SoC is small but robust, with 41.5 percent fewer components and lower power consumption when compared with other chipsets in the market. It includes a 1.2GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU, ARM Mali 400MP GPU, and supports qHD display resolution. The small PCB size of MT2601 is also claimed to meet the design requirements of the widest variety of wearable devices in sports and fitness, location tracking, and various other categories.

"The MT2601 has an incredibly small die size and is highly optimized for cost and power performance. The platform solution, comprising MT2601 integrated with Android Wear software, will fuel the maker revolution and empower the application developer community worldwide to create a broad range of innovative applications and services," said J.C. Hsu, General Manager of New Business Development at MediaTek.

MediaTek has also announced that the its new smart TV SoC will be used in the first Sony Android TV, which will enable it to run Android 5.0 Lollipop software as well.

Like all other Android-based smart TVs, Sony's Android TV also enables users to access movies/ shows directly from Google Play and supports up to 4K2K streaming content, as well as apps and games, including content voice search.

The Sony Android TV is also said to be Google Cast Ready, enabling users to cast content from a mobile device or laptop. MediaTek has not disclosed the name of the SoC, but Sony had separately introduced the 4K Processor X1 at its Android TV launchat CES 2015, and this may very well be the same SoC being referred to by MediaTek.

"We are very proud to stand alongside Sony in introducing the new Android TV device. The experience of Sony's Android TV will set the standard for future smart televisions. This is a momentous occasion for MediaTek to be changing the way people watch TV with our strong partner, Sony," said Ching-Jiang Hsieh, President of MediaTek.

Apart from the Sony-specific Android TV SoC, MediaTek also announced its collaboration with Google for the world's first Ultra HD TV platform solution for Android TV based on MediaTek's quad-core (two cores of Cortex A17 and two cores of Cortex A7) MT5595 big.LITTLE SoC. The MT5595 is also claimed to be the world's first TV SoC to support Google VP9 and HEVC codecs designed for 4K2K content streaming at 60 frames per second for a smooth playback experience.

The MediaTek MT5595 has already entered mass production and consumers can expect MediaTek-powered Android TV devices to be commercially available by March 2015, said the company at CES on Tuesday.

Lastly, the company announced collaboration with Google for new Google Cast for audio products. MediaTek has developed an audio SoC, MT8507, for powering home audio products with Google Cast-Ready speakers and sound bars. This will allow them to stream quality music from devices like iPhone, iPad, Android smartphones and tablets, MacBooks, and Windows PCs using Google Cast apps.

"In this Internet age, consumers are demanding a connected audio experience. The ability to connect devices and listen to music in a seamless manner is a basic need now," said Mohit Bhushan, Vice President, General Manager and MediaTek's Head of US Business Development. "MediaTek is a proud supporter of Google Cast for audio, and we continue to enable innovative new product categories while keeping our Everyday Genius brand promise."