New phone innovations may lift Freescale
Motion-sensor technology could boost sagging sales
by Andrew Johnson - Apr. 27, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
The hand jive is replacing the "send" button on mobile phones as more handsets let users tap, shake and flip to perform key functions.
The features are possible thanks to new motion-sensory technology developed by companies such as Freescale Semiconductor Inc., STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments Inc.
The technology could be a bright spot in an otherwise bleak market for semiconductor manufacturers, whose sales have tapered as businesses and consumers put off purchasing cars, computers and home appliances.
Freescale Semiconductor's metro Phoenix operations are playing a key role in the development of the technology, aiming to make cellphones, computers and other consumer electronics more user-friendly.
Freescale, which manufactures microcontrollers, power-management chips and other semiconductor products, unveiled a new "accelerometer" today that the Austin-based company designed and developed at its Tempe campus.
Worldwide semiconductor sales were $14.2 billion in February, down 30.4 percent from February 2008, according to San Jose-based Semiconductor Industry Association.
Freescale announced it was selling a portion of its division that makes chips for cellphones to cut costs.
Accelerometers could help cushion the declines.
Accelerometers are a type of micro-electromechanical system technology, or MEMS that combines a computer chip with a sensor. They are used in the automotive industry to measure tire pressure and detect collisions for air-bag deployment.
Nintendo's popular Wii gaming system, which users play by moving a controller with their hands, has driven interest for MEMS-powered entertainment products, as has Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone.
Many third-party applications developed for the iPhone respond by users tilting, shaking or moving the iPhone.
"What drove the interest in the . . . use of accelerometers . . . wasn't necessarily the iPhone per se but the apps that have been developed for the iPhone," said analyst Marlene Bourne, who follows MEMS technology with Scottsdale-based Bourne Research LLC.
Freescale says it's seeing strong interest from customers for the new accelerometer, the MMA7660FC, but declined to name which companies have placed orders.
The device comes with built-in algorithmic functions that product manufacturers typically have to develop, taking some of the work and cost away for them, software applications engineer Laura Salhuana said.
Salhuana said ultimately the accelerometer should avoid some pitfalls that consumer product makers have encountered when equipping phones with tap and shake features.
For example, some consumers have criticized Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry Storm for occasionally freezing when switching from vertical to horizontal view on the screen.
Freescale Spokeswoman Lisa Bradley said products containing its accelerometer could hit the market by late in the third quarter.
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