Few years back one of the main factors that stopped me from installing Linux on laptop was the Wi-fi support. Many prospective Linux users might have apprehension about installing Linux because of this legacy. One thing that you have to keep in mind when you start using Linux is that tomorrow will be years ahead of today in open source world. So buy the time you actually start using wi-fi, somebody somewhere might have developed the necessary driver usually by ingenious reverse engineering.

So here i have compiled various Laptop(wi-fi) providers and there Linux support sites and few comments

DELL(Broadcom)

Dell, with some help from Broadcom and Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has released a Linux friendly Broadcom Wi-Fi driver for both 32 and 64-bit Linuxes. For Dell users, this means that they now have Wi-Fi support for the Dell 1490, 1395, 1397, 1505, and 1510 Wireless cards.
So Dell Studio series and Inspiron Series will work.The drivers should work with any Broadcom card using one of the supported chipsets on any modern Linux

Download Driver-Direct Link

Support for Opensuse 11.x

Atheros

If you use Wi-Fi on your laptop, there’s an excellent chance you’re using Atheros chipsets for your wireless networking. Atheros’ silicon is in gear from Linksys, D-Link and Netgear to name but a few vendors.Atheros does a reasonable job to support Linux drivers. he MadWiFi driver for Atheros wireless cards are not included in the distribution as its HAL module is only available as proprietary. However, it is  possible to use this driver.

Opensuse Link -Excellent Explanation

Intel

Drivers for the Centrino,2100/2200/2915 devices can be found in  recent kernel so it is not necessary to install it seperately. It will be working out of the box for kernels after 2009 Jan

Acer (ATMEL)

These cards are also natively supported and hence should not be problem.

Linux Wi-fi compatibility

Wireless Adapter Chipset Directory compiled by HJ Heins. Please note the last updated date to make sure you have the latest information.

NDISWrapper

NDIS wrapper provides a additional layer which can support drivers designed for windows to run on Linux. Here is a list of drivers supported by NDISwrapper.But whenever available use native Linux Drivers.

STAY AWAY CARDS

The list may not be accurate and up to date

Prism54,Texas Instruments, Intersil

More Information

Network debugger Script

A very good diagnostic script for network problems of all kind (not only WLAN) can be found here

It is quite useful in getting help for your networking problem. Run it before you start asking questions.

Thanks to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for providing bulk of the information . Also to opensuse wiki

sudo apt-get install bcmwl-kernel-source

[qi:081] Broadcom (s brcm) is hoping to lower the price of high-definition VoIP services by taking its BroadVoice codecs open source. But even if this move lowers the price for HD voice, will consumers pay even a marginal premium for a better quality call?

The Irvine, Calif.-based company’s BroadVoice family of voice codecs comprises two variants: BroadVoice32 for wideband speech sampled at 16 kHz, and BroadVoice16 for narrowband telephone-bandwidth speech sampled at 8 kHz. Both will be made available as C source code in an effort to lower the price for broadband operators looking to upgrade the audio quality of subscribers’ calls.

Higher-quality calls are a good thing, of course, and may be a selling point for service providers looking to stand out from the crowd. (Whether they can actually save wireline is far from certain, though.) But quality has often been a less-important feature for consumers, as cell phones (with their mobility) and VoIP (with their lower cost) have demonstrated. Broadcom’s move to open source may result in cheaper HD voice services, but until those prices are nearly indistinguishable from traditional services HD is likely to remain a small market.

Options backdating is about failure of ethical leadership. And, according to a study released in August 2009, the act of uncovering and disclosing stock option backdating can lead to improvements in management and financial performance. Aren’t leaders who lie about options backdating more likely to cut other corners?  Even if their goals undermine their organizations’ financial strength? What boundaries could they be expected to have?

The reality is that ethical leadership contributes to effective and sustained business performance.

The backdating scandal consumed headlines in 2006 when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began investigating more than 140 companies, and filed civil charges against 24 companies and 66 individuals.

One of those companies was Broadcom which has since restated its financial results reporting more than $2 billion in additional compensation expenses. Broadcom settled with the SEC, agreeing to a $12 million penalty.

The first of the trials of former Broadcom executives has begun with former CFO Bill Ruehle pleading not guilty to charges he conspired to conceal and understate compensation expenses from 1999 to 2005. He is charged with 21 counts including fraud, internal control violations, false certifications, falsifying records, and lying to investigators. The SEC brought similar charges against Broadcom co-founder and former CEO Henry Nicholas, who will stand trial early next year. Nicholas, an eccentric billionaire, is also facing drug charges.

Broadcom’s other co-founder and former chairman Henry Samueli has pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and awaits sentencing. Also awaiting sentencing is the former VP of human resources who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. Broadcom’s former general counsel has settled with the SEC.

In opening statements the prosecutor said about Ruehle, “The defendant wanted to have employees, the best and the brightest, highly skilled engineers without showing any expense on Broadcom’s report card.” He added, “This is not a case about accounting. It is not a case about business. It is a case about lying.” However, Ruehle’s attorney argued that the case is about “unintentional misapplication of the rules.” He added that “Witness after witness will say he always tried to do the right thing.”

Emails are the currency of an individual’s words. When shown emails linking him to the options backdating,  Samueli changed his plea to guilty. In opening statements at Ruehle’s trial, the prosecutor read the jury emails from Ruehle using them to show Ruehle’s complicity in the backdating activity.

With so many former Broadcom leaders involved in the options backdating scandal, this culture of complicity  and leadership style will inevitably be on trial as well. Several former executives, including Ruehle, benefited financially from how the backdating was calculated. Ruehle’s attorney has already pointed the finger at Nicholas and his management  style.

Broadcom in 2006 at the conclusion of its internal investigation that exonerated Samueli and others still there, but didn’t address Ruehle or Nicholas who had left, said it lacked adequate controls between 1999 and 2003. The company said their record keeping and documentation were insufficient. The internal investigation also indicated that certain individuals could have done more to address inadequacies in the option granting process.

In the dance of finger pointing, Ruehle’s defense has a steep hill to climb to justify why as CFO adequate controls weren’t his responsibility, why he isn’t accountable for attesting to the accuracy of financial filings that weren’t accurate, and how the actions he took were “the right thing to do” for the company and its investors.

Ethical leadership, don’t leave home without it.

Gael O’Brien   November 2, 2009

The Week in Ethics

So..
Today i have been without my beloved internet because of the error mentioned below. When i got back from school i decided to give ubuntu one last try before i went insane. I googled my way to a solution which seemed okay. My friends at school, who had helped me solving this problem, took the #1 result on google – and this was their first mistake. I am not kidding, when i say, that it was the #2 result on google, that actually helped me! I am going to make the troubleshooting below, but before that, you kids have to hear the lesson of the day: “Have friends help you, thank them – then do it all over, the right way, by yourself!”

I want to say thanks to Johannes, Dennis, Jonaz and Frank who was by my side, when i collapsed in despair. A special thanks to Johannes who took time out of his busy schedule to help me, even though there was no positive result!

Troubleshooting:

• My Broadcom Network Card is not supported by Ubuntu (as standard)
• My Broadcom Network Card-driver is not in the “Hardware Driver” category

HOW TO FIX:

1. Boot up Ubuntu 9.10
2. Insert the Live CD (Installation CD) when on the desktop
3. Click “System”
4. Click “Administration”
5. Click “Synaptic Package Manager”
6. Go to “Settings”
7. Click “Repositories”
8. Mark “Check the installable from cd”
9. Go back to “Synaptic Package Manager”
10. Search for: “bcmwl-kernel-source”
11. Mark for installation
12. “Apply”
13. Reboot!

Simple as Trig

Hector Ruiz, the former chairman and CEO of AMD (s amd) who was alleged to have leaked information in the insider trading scandal surrounding the Galleon hedge fund probe, will resign his chairman position at Globalfoundaries, a semiconductor manufacturing company jointly owned by AMD and the government of Abu Dhabi, the company announced today. Ruiz has taken a leave of absence and will formally resign on Jan. 4. Alan “Lanny” Ross the former CEO of Broadcom (s brcm), who took over after another executive scandal, will act as interim chairman. After taking down Ruiz and the heir apparent to IBM (s ibm) CEO Sam Palmisano, who else will the Galleon probe take out?

Once again ubuntu failed on me. After the new upgrade to 9.10 the broadcom network card is no longer supported. Some of the cards are not supported at all, other is just not supported as standard. Several fixes have been posted, but at this point i am back to my backup-copy of ***dows. I really hate doing this and i hate using ***dows, but let me asure you, this is only a temporary solution to my problem. The poll about what new type of Ubuntu i am going to use is still going good. Submit your opinion in the poll in the last post or in a comment below.
Do i hate not being able to complain about free and opensource software when it doesn’t work? YES! Do i have to wait and be patient? Seems like it.

If you haven’t noticed my friend Frank has made his own blog, check it out – link is in the blogroll!

Have a good day
– Sommer

Yesssss… akhirnya dapet juga sistem operasi yang ditunggu-tunggu, Ubuntu 9.10! yey… Langsung pergi ke KRP karena T-Flash yang lelet, namun apa mau dikata, bokap gue bilang ngga usah…

YAH… tapi bokap gue bilang, “emang lo mau kesana?”, gue bilang “ya”, “ya udah tungguin babeh bikin indomie dan air mandi”, yessssss… akhirnya jadi juga…, walaupun telat yang penting hadir, bener juga akhirnya HADIR walaupun telat 30 menit dari sejak acara dimulai

“YANG PENTING HEPI LAH” kata gue nyindirin actor yang awalnya cerita tentang blah…bleh…bloh… (ngga ngerti gue), yang pasti actor itu nyeritain CommonRoom

OK, Langsung bos Enda mulai menjelaskan presentasi tentang perkenalan Ubuntu 9.10 aka Karmic Koala! kemudian dateng Wong Ndeso aka Sakra Aprilia dateng dengan presentasinya tentang “UNTITLED, ga tau pengen ngasih judul apa” yang pasti dia bilang presentasinya baru dibikin pas sahur

Sumpah, bos Sakra bikin gue ketawa-ketawa gara-gara celotehannya itu, Kemudian  Istirahat… dan gue nanya “bagi-bagi cdnya lah…” bos Sakra bilang “wah sorry gi, ga ada alat buat nyate-nya “… untung gue bawa plesdis, lah wong koq cuma Kubuntu, 64bit lagi… cobain ah… tapi keraguan sempet terbesit, bisa jalan ngga? kata bos Sakra sih jalan, cuma ga tau juga yah…

Akhirnya dicoba, wow… menawan banget! installernya dimodif abis-abisan dan langsung booting GRUB2 (1.97 beta 4) dan pilih yang paling atas, namun sayangnya masih blom konek T-Flashnya itu dan akhirnya pinjem tengtop bokap yang wingdus aseli itu, untung bokap ngijinin, kalo ngga? wah…

LANGSUNG CARI TULISAN TENTANG BROADCOM, menurut komunitas Ubuntu-ID seh ya gitu deh… install beberapa deb sih… gue pilih blognya mas Fajran untuk menginstall Broadcomnya, gue ga tau kalo Driver 32bit ga bisa jalan di distro 64bit…

GOOGLING DEH… ternyata menurut mbah google, cara nginstallnya berbeda, lah wong drivernya ada di CDnya **nepok jidat**

Ikuti perintah berikut, semua langsung tuntas…tas…tas

sudo apt-cdrom add (pastikan cd Ubuntu 64bitnya di CDrom drive)
sudo apt-get install dkms patch fakeroot bcmwl-kernel-source

RESTART dan NetworkManager langsung mencari Sinyal WiFi, Untuk selengkapnya bisa anda lihat gambar berikut :

Sekali lagi, ini dijalankan di laptop Compaq gue…

BCM4312 – моделька Бродкома, если кто не понял. Да-да, того самого, вифишного.

Немного лирики:
И вообще, если ставите линуксы, где не всё работает из коробки, до инсталла сделайте скрин, где будут видны все ваши девайсы, чтобы потом не обзванивать друзей компьютерщиков и говорить “А как называется эта прога, ну…. С которой я могу свою сетевуху видеть?!?!?”. Почему-то обувь вы поупаете зная и указывая свой размер. Что же вы свою сетевуху так не любите, а потом комп или систему обзываете гадами?

Короче. Ставим сразу нормальную i686 Федору, если потянете, и будет вам такое же счастье как и мне, без замен всяких дурацких репозиториев и умных слов.

$uname -m
> AAAA!!!! i686!!! УРА!

Поэтому решение лаконичное:
$yum install kmod-wl-PAE

И всё!!
Мораль: что-то типа “скупой платит дважды”))) Точнее кучами убогих команд в терминале в попытках поднять вифи))

Важный план на завтра: Обмозговать проверялку кода для Online judge и отписать.

П.С. – из этого поста можно догадаться, что новый комп уже тянет на себе Федору 11 и Виндоус 7. И чихали мы на Виста партишн))
П.П.С. – Павел, привет, и тебя с обновкой))

After upgrading to 2.6.31 my wifi stopped working so I googled a little, I found a few usefull links:

http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=19514

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=82613

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Broadcom_BCM4312

Basically what I did was to execute “makepkg” again in the broadcom-wl package and reinstall it. Then I executed:

#mkinitcpio -p kernel26

Also make sure your rc.conf is rigth, you have to add !b43 and !ssb to your MODULES section.

MODULES=(acpi-cpufreq cpufreq_ondemand lib80211_crypt_wep lib80211_crypt_ccmp lib80211_crypt_tkip wl !ssb !b43 fuse)

Reboot your computer and check that your wifi card is working:

#iwconfig

eth0      IEEE 802.11  Nickname:”"
Access Point: Not-Associated
Link Quality:5  Signal level:206  Noise level:165
Rx invalid nwid:0  invalid crypt:0  invalid misc:0

Then you can use wicd or networkManager to connect to your network.

Bueno ahora vamos a instalar una tarjeta pci wireless Broadcom….

para que no pierdas tiempo revisa si tu tarjeta esta soportada…
September 10, 2009
Linux kernel space hybrid driver 5.10.91.9.3 Gold
Device ID Product Name
--------- -------------
0x4311 4311 2.4 Ghz
0x4312 4311 Dualband
0x4313 4311 5 Ghz
0x4315 4312 2.4 Ghz
0x4328 4321 Dualband
0x4329 4321 2.4 Ghz
0x432a 4321 5 Ghz
0x432b 4322 Dualband
0x432c 4322 2.4 Ghz
0x432d 4322 5 Ghz
0x4353 43224 Dualband
0x4357 43225 2.4 Ghz

Ahora bien descarga la version del driver de Broadcom que necesita tu maquina…. recuerda que es importante saber cual es la arquitectura de tu maquina y cual instalaste en tu pc….

Linux Driver Broadcom 32 Bits (x32_86)
Linux Driver Broadcom 64 Bits (x86_64)

Siguiente a esto tenemos que abrit una consola o terminal, e ingresamos lo siguiente.

su #Ingreso al sistema como root
mkdir #creo la carpeta para desempacar el driver
cp hybrid-portsrc-.tar.gz # copiamos el .tar.gz a la carpeta que creamos
cd #ingresamos a la carpeta
tar xzf hybrid-portsrc-.tar.gz #Desempacamos el driver

Construimos el driver como un modulo cargable para el kernel.
make clean #Es opcional la construccion en "Limpio"
make #Construir el driver

Removemos los demas drivers utilizados para la tarjeta wireless Broadcom
lsmod | grep "b43\|ssb\|wl" #Listamos si existen drivers que debamos borrar

removemos los drivers listadoa anteriormente…
rmmod b43
rmmod ssb
rmmod wl

Prevenimos que se vuelvan a cargar en un futuro estos modulos
echo "blacklist ssb" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf;
echo "blacklist b43" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Si tienes una version antigua del driver wl hacemos un cambio “limpio del driver”
rmmod wl #remover el driver
#hacemos el backup del driver anterior
mv /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/net/wireless/wl.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/net/wireless/wl.ko.orig
cp wl.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/net/wireless/wl.ko #copiamos el archivo wl.ko a las carpetas del kernel
depmod #maneja los descriptores de los modulos del kernel crea un "makefile" de dependencias, basado en symbolos del archivo de configuracion.
modprobe wl #Cargamos el modulo nuevo wl


Si no tenias un driver anterior para la tarjeta wireless
modprobe lib80211
insmod wl.ko


En este momento ya esta operando el driver wl ahora si no tienes activa la wireless enciendelo, recuerda que puede llevar algunos segunditos que empiece a detectar redes el network-manager.

Infineon is a formidable force in RF transceivers and is one of the predominant baseband suppliers. Forward Concepts ranks them #3 globally in total baseband (2G, 3G). Although Infineon’s visibility increased tremendously after design wins in the iPhone, it has been a longtime supplier of RF solutions to LG, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson. The company shipped its billionth RF transceiver in November 2007.

Infineon rightly predicted early on that handset market would polarize towards low-cost devices and high-end smart phones. Providing single-chip platforms for low cost phones is a forte of Infineon. The investments paid off. Infineon earlier this year shipped its 100 millionth single-chip solution. The technical superiority of this platform received a strong vote when Nokia chose Infineon as a baseband supplier for its EDGE platforms. Infineon competes directly with ST-Ericsson for low-cost phone designs.

High-end phones from Apple and RIM have been using Infineon’s 3G baseband and RF solutions. LG, already a big customer of Infineon’s single-chip phone platform for low-cost devices, announced the coming of a slew of smart phones in the next 18 months. Alongside ST-Ericsson, Infineon is likely to have scored some design wins for some of these phones.

On the Winning Side

The wireless semiconductor space has witnessed an abundance of activity in the past few years. On some occasions, winners were picked based on technological prowess. On others, winners were picked just by virtue of past associations. There were other times when action taken by others enriched or depleted a company’s revenue. Infineon was on the winning side, mostly.

– Infineon is one of the companies that stand to gain from the consolidation in baseband market. Acquiring LSI mobility gave it a strong foothold in the baseband space and some top handset makers as customers. Infineon is just one of four companies to have more than a 5% share of the baseband market. Infineon now boasts of supplier relationships with several major handset vendors.

– Nokia’s multi-sourcing strategy gave more power to Infineon, which is among those players poised to gain from TI’s exiting the merchant baseband business.

– Not long ago, Motorola held the second spot among top handset makers. Samsung then displaced Motorola. Thanks to Infineon acquiring LSI mobility, Samsung is now a major customer of Infineon’s HEDGE solution. Samsung’s market share gains will translate in part to Infineon’s gaining market share.

– Handset market polarization towards low-cost phones and high-end smartphones matches Infineon’s strengths well.

Is this a coincidence or strategic thinking on Infineon’s part? Either way, it augurs well for sustained growth of the company’s WLS division.

Lost 3G at Nokia

Infineon used to supply just GSM platforms to Nokia which, at the time of diversifying its sourcing vendors, extended the relationship and added Infineon as an EDGE platform supplier. Nokia is known to have thoroughly evaluated various vendors before picking suppliers for various technologies. Not wanting to repeat the mistake of putting all its eggs in TI’s basket, and with Infineon already supplying GSM and GPRS parts, Nokia chose not to source 3G parts from Infineon. Instead, Broadcom and Qualcomm were chosen to provide Nokia’s 3G baseband needs. Interestingly, Infineon licenses its 3G stack to Broadcom. This is a loss due to strategic more than technical reasons.

Innovation

Infineon announced improved versions of all of its single-chip solutions. These integrate baseband, power management, RF transceivers, FM radio and in some cases media players and external memory card support. Packing its renowned strengths in baseband, power management, and RF into a single solution results is an offer that is hard to resist for any cost conscious phone designer. Although most of these are meant for the GSM and EDGE markets, such tightly integrated platforms will have a good uptake in price-sensitive 3G markets that do not demand all the bells and whistles of advanced phones.

Infineon announced developing a Software Defined Radio platform, XMM™ SDR 200, that can support multiple standards using the same baseband part. It gained a design win for use in satellite/terrestrial hybrid phones from SkyTerra and TerreStar. While this could go the way of earlier announced GSM/Wi-Fi mobile platform, the SDR platform with its low power consumption might be a hint of things to come.

In sum, Infineon continues to be a strong player in RF transceivers, baseband, and phone-on-a chip platforms for low-cost phones. In the next post, we will continue with the portfolio analysis and concentrate on what ails Infineon’s wireless business.

[Originally for Sramana Mitra on Strategy.]

This guide is adapted from Kazalku’s guide on remote exploit forums. Thanks Kazalku.

Download this driver and transfer it with a USB or boot up into another OS on your multiboot and save it in the BT root folder from here.

Untar it:

tar -xvzf hybrid-portsrc-x86_32-v5_10_91_9-3.tar.gz

makefile:
make -C /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build M=`pwd`

Insert the modules:
modprobe ieee80211_crypt_tkip
insmod wl.ko

Now you should have the network Claimed. you can check by:
lshw -C network

Bring it up:
ifconfig eth1 up

To load the module upon boot:

cp wl.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/net/wireless
depmod -a
modprobe wl

Load the module at every startup:
kate /etc/modules

add the following and close the text editor:
ieee80211_crypt_tkip
wl

Load NetworkManager and Configure KnetworkManager:
Type NetworkManager in a konsole and configure the wireless at the bottom right.

Delete the files you created in the root folder now that you dont need them.

Esto sirve para los modelos B4311, B4312, B4321 Y B4322.

Primero instalamos los repositorios rpmfusion:

su -c 'rpm -Uvh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm'

Una vez tengamos los repositorios, actualizamos y luego instalamos el Metapaquete “kmod-wl”:

su -
yum update
yum install kmod-wl

Reiniciamos para que se cargue el módulo en el kernel y voila!

Is it time for 802.11n to be deployed widely in mobile devices? Recent events, enlisted below, lead me to think so.

“Draft-N” no more. On Friday, IEEE announced ratification of 802.11n Wireless LAN standard. The specification was in draft stage for over 6 years, but that did not stop several wireless semiconductor vendors from going into production – especially so after the Task group assured Wi-Fi alliance that any changes from then on would ensure hardware compatibility. The parts already in production will be brought up to the standard with a firmware upgrade.

There are multiple 802.11n solutions for mobile device designers to choose from. To cite  a few examples: Broadcom announced sampling BCM4329 in December 2008; Marvell announced a single chip 802.11n WLAN solution at Mobile World Congress 2009; Qualcomm announced a single chip 802.11n WLAN solution for handsets and mobile devices in June 2009. Taking it one step further, ST-Ericsson recently announced the first 45 nm 802.11n part, to be available in 2H 2010.

We have a popular sighting. A teardown analysis from iFixit shows that the recently released 3rd generation iPod Touch sports Broadcom’s better combo part BCM4329, which supports 802.11n. (It replaces BCM4325 which provided 802.11a/b/g alongisde BlueTooth, FM Reception.) BCM4329 is a “65 nm single-chip combo device with single-band (2.4 GHz) 802.11b/g/n or dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n, plus Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and FM receiver and transmitter features”.  Neither 802.11n nor FM are currently enabled. If there are no technical issues and if the power consumption is about what was promised by Broadcom, it is just a matter of time before the latest incarnation of iPod Touch starts touting 801.11n speeds. Although currently not enabled officially, the software is known to hint support for 802.11n built in since iPhone OS 3.0. If we go by the past design cycles of iPod Touch and iPhone, next version of iPhone might sport a 802.11n solution.

Networking IC makers Ralink Technology and Realtek Semiconductor are indicating that shipments of 802.11n chipsets would overtake 802.11g. Although most of these parts go into laptops and netbooks, the momentum behind 802.11n is clear.

Corporate customers sitting on the fence because of the “Draft-N” label, would jump in now. Mobile Network Operators should feel better at the prospect of lesser multimedia loading over their cellular networks.

With the standard ratified and multiple vendors touting single-chip parts at power levels acceptable in mobile devices, we should start seeing more phones with 802.11n support. To begin with, smartphones will lead the way. Will the ratification of the standard be the tipping point?

Faster WiFi and built in FM transmitter: Coming Soon?

More details are coming in about the new WiFi chip found inside the new iPod Touch.

It seems the wireless chip is a brand new, cutting edge chip which can operate on the ‘N’ class of wireless with an FM transmitter and Bluetooth built in. This all sounds great apart from that Apple have not used the chip to it’s full potential, disabling the ‘N’ class wireless and FM transmitter features.

So does this mean in a future update we could see significantly faster WiFi and FM transmitter? We’ll have to wait and see.

Read more @ ModMyI

What BSkyB Started:  It seems all of Europe is buzzing with the hopes of seeing actual 3D content on their telly next year based on the BSkyB announcement in July that it will launch Europe’s first 3D TV channel programming in 2010.  The frenzy was further stoked by the Guardian Newspaper’s “Question of the Week” asking readers “Will 3D TV be a Hit?” So the new buzz word in the television industry must be “3D”.

Mob Mentality: Yes, 3D TV has been anointed in the press as the next killer app. Guaranteed to wipe out all other types of programming. Driving hoards of customers to their local struggling retailer, waiving fists full of cash (or debit cards) screaming for new 3D TV sets to see all of their favorite shows in 3D.

How Can STB Manufactures Take Advantage of the 3D TV Hysteria? Easy, just market a 3D Set Top Box! Never mind that format, encoding and transmission standards are still being debated by standards bodies.  What codec will be used for transmission?  What bandwidth will it require?  What QoS is acceptable?  Will they require glasses?  Shutter, Polarized or Dual Color?

Battle of the EU Trade Show Press Releases: Just in time for IFA and IBC we have company after company jumping on the 3D bandwagon.  A few examples:

Pace To Unveil New 3D Set Top Box Thursday, September 10 2009,“Pace has announced that it will showcase a new set top box with a 3D-enabled user interface (UI) at IBC 2009, which gets under way tomorrow in Amsterdam.”

SoftAtHome: World’s First End-to-End TV Solution with 3D User Interface Ready for Deployment on IP-Hybrid Networks “…It enables service providers to accelerate time to market to deliver a new TV offering with a 3D HD user interface on broadcast, IPTV or hybrid networks (DVB-S/C/T+IP)”

Bluestreak Technology Unveils New 3D Flash® User Experiences for Set-top Boxes and Mobile Devices at IBC 2009 “…today unveiled support for new 3D Flash user experiences that offer consumers visually dynamic ways to search for and discover multimedia content and web services on their television set-top boxes…”

NXP Brings Unrivalled Performance to Mainstream HD DVRs and Set-top Boxes “The NXP PNX847x/8x/9x also features an advanced Imagination Technologies POWERVR 3D graphics processing unit (GPU) to render advanced programming navigation user interfaces, games and other 3D content.”

ADB to Focus on New Technologies and Exciting 3D Applications at IPTV World Forum: “Our solution consists of a suite of applications using our open standard middleware, based on GEM technology, several hundreds of applications based on our patent pending EGG™-3D user interface.”

Broadcom BCM93740 – Advanced 3D Set-Top Box Development Platform: The Broadcom BCM93740 is an advanced set-top box development platform supporting high definition television (HDTV), dual standard definition decoding and broadband cable modem internet access. It is a highly integrated, cost-effective design built on the latest generation of Broadcom silicon and software offering low risk and quick time to market for the next generation of interactive set-top boxes.”

Just use 3D in your marketing and everyone will assume you mean decoding and playback of actual 3D TV content.

SENSIO and Sagem Win The Best 3D Marketing Hype Award at IBC: I really had to read and re-read this one to make sure I understood what was being offered.  These providers have claimed, in writing, to actually convert “any type of broadcast” into 3D playback on “any 2D or 3D TV” — and if you keep it in your barn you can spin straw into gold!

SENSIO and Sagem Communications Showcase a 3D Digital Terminal at IBC “Thanks to this integrated solution, service providers will soon be able to reach all subscribers, equipped with 3DTVs or not, via one and unique signal, regardless of the type of broadcast network. Since the set-top box is agnostic to any type of 3D display technology implemented within TVs, it can support any type of 2D or 3D TVs thus allowing service providers to easily migrate from 2D to 3D services.”

Back To Reality:  I have no doubt that 3D TV will be available in most markets within the next 5 years (the minimum sales cycle for replacement TVs).  In a time when MSOs are struggling with bandwidth usage and downgrading HDTV, it seems like there are still a few challenges standing in the way.  Marketing a new dimension in television before it is really available seems like a fool’s errand.  Is everyone too young to remember the Sony BetaMax vs. VHS battles?  Surely we have not forgotten the recent ceasefire in the Blu-ray and HD-DVD video CD format war.

These recent forays into the world of hype remind me of a quote from my former boss at OpenTV and the current Head of TV Technology at Google, Vincent Dureau:  “The killer app for television is watching TV!”

Keep pushing forward

Jeff Vinson

jeff_vinson@sbcglobal.net

[Jeff is currently seeking a full time position in the IPTV and Connected Home ecosystem.]

[Originally for Sramana Mitra on Strategy. Please comment here]

ST-Ericsson plans to be a major force in the wireless semiconductor IC space, and I believe that it has the wherewithal to become one. Over the next few posts, we will take a look at some recent developments at the company.

Genesis

ST-NXP Wireless came into being on August 2, 2008. Earlier coverage of ST-NXP Wireless in this space can be found in Vijay Nagarajan’s STMicroelectonics (STM) series. On August 20, 2008, ST-NXP Wireless entered into a joint venture (JV) with Ericsson Mobile Platforms (EMP), L.M. Ericsson’s wireless handset operations. Prior to completion of the new JV, STM took complete control of ST-NXP Wireless by exercising its option to buy NXP’s 20% interest in ST-NXP Wireless. As it turned out, STM bought NXP assets and it was not a merger, as it was showcased.

ST-Ericsson is a 50/50 JV between STM and L.M. Ericsson. It encompasses former wireless handset business units of STM, L.M. Ericsson, NXP, Silicon Labs. ST-Ericsson, which was created in February 2009, is indeed a force to be reckoned with. Its proforma sales of $3.6 billion in 2008 trailed only market leader Qualcomm’s. In 2009, ST-Ericsson is expected to edge past Texas Instruments for the second spot in the cellphone semiconductor market.

The JV supplies four out of the top five handset makers (although most of them have multiple-sourcing strategies). It started with a workforce of about 8,000 of whom more than 85% were engaged in R&D. The JV is Europe’s answer to the likes of Qualcomm, TI, and Broadcom. The extensive IP portfolio, with more than 3,500 patents, is one of the most comprehensive offerings of wireless technologies for use in handsets. Of the major wireless semiconductor vendors, only ST-Ericsson has a play in Near Field Communication (NFC). According to the Geneva, Switzerland-based company, its technologies are present in some form in over 50% of the phones on the market.

Organization

Given the tough market conditions and the company’s ongoing efforts to exploit synergies and cost savings, it did not shock many that ST-Ericsson reported losses in the first two months of operations as well as in 2Q 2009. It hopes to make a better showing in Q3, which has traditionally been a strong quarter.

Even before creating the the JV with EMP, ST-NXP made progress in cost savings, including closing a plant in Nuremberg and reducing its workforce by 500. ST-NXP expected the parent companies to save $250 million annually by 2011 by exploiting synergies. In addition to this, ST-Ericsson announced a major program that amounts to $230 million in annualized savings that it expects to complete by the second quarter of 2010. ST-Ericsson expects to cut its workforce by 1,200 to save on costs.

Earlier this month, Gilles Delfassy was brought in to replace Alain Dutheil as CEO of ST-Ericsson. Dutheil returned to STM, where he worked prior to heading ST-Ericsson for the past seven months. Delfassy was a senior VP in TI’s Wireless Terminal Business Unit before retiring two years ago. When Delfassy was still at TI, Nokia was one of the US giant’s big customers. It would be interesting to see if Delfassy could help ST-Ericsson grow closer to Nokia.

A plan announced on July 28 reorganizes ST-Ericsson around three divisions: LTE and HSPA-connected devices; 3G-multimedia platforms; 2G, EDGE, TD-SCDMA; and connectivity. R&D will be shared across these groups. While the restructuring along product lines should pay off in the long run, the ongoing churning of executives probably means that the management is still trying to get a sense of this elephant of an organization.

In the next post, we will take a look at the company’s portfolio and growth prospects.