Shortly after the official proclamation of the Bluetooth 3.0 standard, Broadcom Corporation today announces that its leading Bluetooth combo chip has been qualified as compliant with the Bluetooth v3.0 + HS specification. The new standard significantly expands the capabilities of Bluetooth wireless technology in multimedia smartphones, netbooks and other devices by enabling the transmission of large files via Bluetooth profiles at speeds up to 24 Megabits per second (Mbps), or a 10 times increase in speed over the previous Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR (enhanced data rate) standard. With the company's InConcert BCM4325 Bluetooth + Wi-Fi + FM combo chip solution and Bluetooth software, Broadcom becomes the world's first to support the standard in a single-chip solution. With this chip you get Bluetooth 3.0 support, 802.11b/g wireless capability and FM radio functionality. Hopefully, after the quick adoption, Bluetooth 3.0 enabled devices will be out very soon.

Bigfoot Networks is perhaps the first company that gave the network interface card (NIC) a high-end consumer take. The Killer N1 and K1 PCI NICs were known to come with some very innovative features that, as our review showed, did impact positively on networked gaming performance. After close to two and a half years since its previous NIC, Bigfoot Networks Killer is back. In the making is the Killer Xeno NIC.

With near identical features and more, this NIC takes the advantage of the newer leaner components in the market, such as the NPU which may be using a newer manufacturing process, NPU-accelerated audio that provides audio-chat with zero system-overhead, and up to 256 MB of onboard memory to drive this mini "PC inside PC". The ASIC is done away with, a newer gigabit Ethernet transceiver made by Broadcom is present. The card uses a native PCI-Express x1 interface. It comes in two variants: the 128 MB "Pro", and 256 MB "Ultra". Apart from selling these cards under its own banner, Bigfoot Networks has struck an OEM deal with Alienware. Also, the company has an AIB partner (a-la graphics cards), and guess who it is - EVGA. The Xeno Ultra will be priced at US $179.99, and the Xeno Pro at $129.99.

The company slogan change, from "Smarter Choice" to "The future is fusion" marked a major shift in core-Strategy for AMD. The company now focuses on delivering solutions, more so than mere products, with a solution comprising of several products working together to let the PC serve a purpose. One such solution is the AMD Maui entertainment platform. Maui platform makes AMD hardware work with AMD's own Live! Media Center software to deliver a complete home-theater PC solution.

On the hardware front, Maui includes a qualifying AMD Athlon X2 or Phenom series processor, a motherboard based on the AMD 7-series chipset with integrated graphics. Video is handled by the 7-series IGP, while audio is handled by a special audio component-riser card that has pre-amp circuitry onboard, which enables users to connect speakers in the 5.1 channel configuration directly to the motherboard. Future models would bring in 7.1 channel support. The first motherboard to use this design, is the MSI Media Live DIVA 5.1 780M.

AMD today announced completion of the sale of its Digital TV (DTV) processor business to Broadcom Corporation. AMD announced a definitive agreement to sell its DTV business on August 25 as part of its strategy to become leaner and more focused, while seeking to create a business model to deliver sustainable profitability and leadership in core x86 computing and graphics businesses.

In connection with the business sale, AMD received approximately $141.5 million in cash, subject to certain escrows and adjustments pursuant to the terms of the definitive asset purchase agreement.

Microsoft and Broadcom Corporation today announced a collaboration in Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) products. The collaboration includes Microsoft and Broadcom working together to enable the popular Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV client software to operate on next-generation set-top boxes (STBs) utilizing the Broadcom BCM7405 system on a chip (SOC). This technology will permit service providers and original equipment manufacturers to support a range of features such as whole-home digital video recording (DVR), high-performance user interfaces, and photo and music sharing.