CSR's SiRFstarIII Chip Chosen for New Panasonic Hybrid Digital Cameras

CSR (LSE: CSR) today announced that its SiRFstarIII architecture features in Panasonic’s new DMC-ZS7 and DMC-TZ10 hybrid digital cameras targeted at mainstream consumers.

SiRFstarIII enhances the travel photography experience by providing end users with the ability to not only geo-tag their images with longitude and latitude information, but also enabling access to real-time location information on the country, city or landmark where the camera is being used during both capture and play back modes.

The SiRFstarIII architecture, with its low-power, high-performance satellite signal processor, is one of the most widely deployed GPS architectures, powering a broad range of portable devices. With its SiRFInstantFix™ technology, SiRFstarIII boasts an extremely fast time-to-first-fix (TTFF) in most environments and even in areas of weak satellite signals. Integrated into the new DMC-ZS7 and DMC-TZ10 models, SiRFstarIII provides users of Panasonic’s hybrid models with proven and reliable location awareness and functionality, without significantly impacting the battery of the camera.

“With GPS functionality a must-have in new cameras, we needed a chip that would not only provide a quick and accurate position fix, but be able to do this in busy urban environments and without draining the battery,” said Mr Tomozawa, Group Manager, Panasonic. “CSR’s SiRFstarIII chip is a proven technology that not only met, but actually exceeded all of the criteria we were looking for. As leading providers of GPS functionality, CSR’s SiRFstarIII will importantly provide our customers of the DMC-ZS7 and DMC-TZ10 cameras with real-time location information for their content.”

“Location functionality has quickly become a must have feature in nearly all portable devices and SiRFstarIII is one of the most widely deployed architectures for these applications today,” said Anthony Murray, Senior Vice President of CSR’s Audio and Consumer Business Unit. “Panasonic’s latest cameras are a great example of devices that will actually enhance their customers’ experiences, not only providing users with geo-tagging functionality, but also with real-time location information on the landmark they’re shooting or the city that they're in, and its SiRFstarIII makes this all possible.”

The GPS functionality of the DMC-ZS7 and DMC-TZ10 make them ideal for travel photography and video capture. The geo-tagging feature with embedded longitude and latitude information allows users to share and upload content to maps on social media websites for sharing with friends and family. The ZS7 also shows the name of the county, city, and landmarks using the internal data to give users real-time information when taking shooting content and also during play back modes. The GPS works with the internal clock of the camera to automatically adjust it to the local time and to change again when you return home.

The DMC-ZS7 and DMC-TZ10 cameras are available now.