QUALCOMM Acquires Berkana Wireless for RF CMOS

QUALCOMM has acquired Berkana Wireless, a Silicon Valley-based fabless semiconductor company, for approximately $56 million in cash. Berkana supplies CMOS radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) to the wireless industry. QUALCOMM said the addition of Berkana's RF CMOS intellectual property, design portfolio and engineering resources, as well as its cellular systems expertise, would reinforce its leadership in the RFIC industry and help it deliver CDMA2000 and WCDMA (UMTS) RF solutions.http://www.qualcomm.comhttp://www.berkanawireless....

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PMC-Sierra Introduces VoIP Reference Platform

PMC-Sierra announced the availability of a VoIP Phone reference platform based on its MIPS-powered MSP2020 Secure VoIP processor and certified Voice Processing Software. The design allows OEMs and ODMs to build consumer and enterprise IP phones with high quality service and very competitive bill of materials (BOM) costs; and secure Wi-Fi phones that overcome reliability and privacy concerns associated with Internet-based telephone services. PMC-Sierra said its Voice Processing Software technology enabled the MSP2020 VoIP processor to deliver the...

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Broadcom's DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Set-Top Chip Hits 120 Mbps Downstream

Broadcom introduced a front-end cable TV set-top box chip with integrated channel bonding technology. Channel bonding is a DOCSIS 3.0 feature that significantly increases the transmission speed of a cable network. Channel bonding could enable MSOs to migrate to an all-IP network platform. The new Broadcom BCM3255 set-top box chip can support up to 120 Mbps downstream data rates. The chip integrates three 1024/256 QAMin-band demodulators, an out-of-band demodulator, DOCSIS 2.0+/3.0 cable modem technology, USB 2.0 MAC and PHY, and a 10/100 Fast...

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DIRECTV Embraces DLNA and UPnP Interoperability

DIRECTV has committed itself to device interoperability in a bid to make enhance home entertainment. The company has recently joined the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), which is focused on delivering an interoperability framework of design guidelines based on open industry standards to complete the cross-industry digital convergence. DIRECTV said it will implement DLNA interoperability guidelines in its next generation set-top boxes that will enable the secure transfer of content within individual DIRECTV customer homes.DIRECTV has also...

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Google to Support Intel Viiv Technology Platforms

Google will make its video service available on the new Intel Viiv technology platform. The companies said their planned collaboration is intended to give consumers an easy way to search, manage and consume the huge amount of video information available on the Internet."Both companies believe open standards are critical to provide rapid growth in digital entertainment," said Susan Wojcicki, vice president for product management at Google.http://www.intel.comhttp://www.google....

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Intel's Viiv Aims for New Digital Entertainment Era

Intel CEO Paul Otellini introduced the company's new Viiv platform promising a new era of digital entertainment. Intel Viiv consists of a suite of Intel-based hardware and software matched to Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Later this year, the platform will add features to help simplify the set-up of a home network along with the ability to transfer digital content from the PC to other devices. Intel Viiv platforms are based on...

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Atheros Demos MIMO WLAN Solutions

Atheros Communications unveiled its next-gen "XSPAN" family of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) wireless solutions capable of delivering 300 Mbps data rates across a home environment using a 3 x 3 transmitter/receiver architecture. The three-radio solution increases throughput and connection reliability at greater range. The Atheros AR6001 family of WLAN solutions is based on a highly compact, power-efficient, single and dual-band single-chip design.Atheros, which is a founding member of the Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC). said it is...

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2Wire Offers Outdoor Broadband Home Gateway for FTTP, VDSL2

2Wire announced an outdoor broadband home gateway that mounts to the side of the subscriber's home in a hardened, weather-resistant enclosure. The 2Wire's HomePortal 4000 series iNID (intelligent Network Interface Device) puts all gateway functions and all service and network terminations to the side of the house, eliminating the need to bring DSL into the house, thereby preventing the signal loss that is typical of in-home wiring. The location at the side of the house, near the existing telephone Network Interface Device, also allows for an easy...

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Broadcom to Provide MPEG-4/AVC Chipsets for EchoStar, DIRECTV

EchoStar Communications Corporation and its DISH Network satellite TV service have selected Broadcom's MPEG-4/AVC chipset solutions for two MPEG-4-specific set-top box products currently in volume production. The first product is the DISH Network ViP 211, which is DISH Network's first ever MPEG-4/AVC set-top box launched in December 2005. This product supports both HD and SD video in both MPEG-4/AVC as well as MPEG-2. The second product is EchoStar's flagship ViP 622, which is an MPEG-4/AVC set-top box with dual HD decoding that is capable of...

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Broadcom Introduces Dual-Channel AVC/VC-1/MPEG-2 Video Decoder Chip

Broadcom announced a new dual-channel AVC/VC-1/MPEG-2 video decoder system-on-a-chip (SoC) that enables cable, satellite and IP-network equipment manufacturers to develop high-performance media centers. The new Broadcom chip integrates all of the required media center technology to securely access, store and share multiple types of digital media content, including HDTV programs, video-on-demand, Internet content, digital video, music and photos, and voice over IP services.Key features include:The latest generations of video compression technologies...

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Verizon's V CAST Music Service Uses Windows Media

Verizon Wireless debuted its V CAST Music service, which offers customers the ability to download music over the air directly to their wireless phones or straight to their Windows XP PCs and transfer digital music between the PC and the phone through Windows Media Player 10.Verizon Wireless adopted core Windows Media technologies including Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM), an enhanced Windows Media Audio Professional (WMA Pro) codec...

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MCI Restates Financials for First Three Quarters of 2005

Just prior to an expected closing of its merger with Verizon, MCI reissued financial statements for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2005; June 30, 2005; and September 30, 2005. As a result of a comprehensive review of its contributions to the Federal Universal Service Fund, MCI determined that previously issued financial statements included an error related to these contributions. The result of the error was an over-stated net income for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2005 of $52 million.MCI said the restatement will have no...

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