Broadcom today unveiled 3G chips that promise both less expensive smartphones as well as longer-lived 3G for others. As a complete processor, the BCM21553 provides a modern ARM11 chip and 7.2Mbps HSPA, including the 5.8Mbps upload speeds, but in a much more efficient, smaller 65 nanometer process. The hardware has one of Broadcoms's most advanced graphics cores and can render OpenGL ES 2.0 3D as well as process 8-megapixel photos.

The chipmaker envisions its new design as giving entry smartphones nearly all the functionality they need without a special companion chip. Broadcom anticipates that it will be used for "open" mobile platforms like Android and Windows Mobile.

More important for the broader market is the BCM2091. The RF transceiver gives both the BCM21553 and any other GSM phone and supports as many as five HSPA bands, including North America-friendly 850MHz and 1,900MHz; only T-Mobile's 1,700MHz band is excluded. It uses the same 65nm process as the companion processor and is considered the smallest radio of its type.

Both chips are available for companies to use today, though no customers have been named.