Qualcomm promises gamers faster routers
Company unveils advanced form of data traffic management into Wi-Fi routers at CES show
The Associated Press
Posted: Jan 8, 2013 1:07 PM ET
Last Updated: Jan 8, 2013 3:26 PM ET
Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs speaks during the keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show, Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, in Las Vegas. (Julie Jacobson/Associated Press)
Related
When data traffic snarls in a Wi-Fi router, Qualcomm has the answer: a "Killer" traffic cop to sort things out.
Qualcomm Inc., maker of processor chips for mobile phones and other devices, said it's building an advanced form of data traffic management into its chips for Wi-Fi routers. The company said the feature should help routers intelligently shunt data from today's busy homes. For instance, data packets that communicate moves in an online-shoot-em-up game will get priority over a movie download.
Qualcomm is unveiling the technology at this week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a showcase for the latest phones, TVs and other gadgets.
The technology, which Qualcomm calls StreamBoost, comes from a small Austin, Texas-based company that Qualcomm bought in 2011, Bigfoot Networks. Bigfoot has raised eyebrows with its high-priced "Killer" network cards for PCs, designed to give gamers split-second advantages in their online duels. Qualcomm is now moving that technology from the PC to the Internet router, where more devices can benefit from it.
Split-second advantage in online gaming
StreamBoost won't make Killer network cards obsolete, though. Killer will simply work better in conjunction with StreamBoost routers, said Dan Rabinovitsj, general manager of the networking unit at Atheros.
Most of today's Internet routers can "shape" traffic flowing through them to give higher priority to time-sensitive data, but they're crude compared with the new chips from Qualcomm's Atheros subsidiary, which can differentiate more than 100 applications, Rabinovitsj said.
The first manufacturers to use the chips in actual routers will be D-Link and Dell Inc.'s gamer-oriented Alienware subsidiary. It will be Alienware's first router, and it should be out this spring, along with D-Link's Gaming Router. Prices were not announced.
Price not announced
Rabinovitsj said routers are currently the most boring-looking boxes in homes.
"We're trying to change everyone's view of that, because our view is that the next big revolution in the connected home is a smart router," Rabinovitsj said.
San Diego-based Qualcomm bought Atheros, a leading maker of Wi-Fi chips, in 2011.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Royal Bank pledges not to outsource jobs for cash savings
- Royal Bank has promised it will never outsource a Canadian job to a foreign worker solely to save money. more »
- Washington police blame bridge collapse on Alberta trucker
- Washington State police say an Alberta trucker was responsible for hitting a steel beam precipitating a bridge collapse on one of the busiest routes in the American northwest. more »
- Man accused of killing child in patio crash granted bail
- Emotions ran high in a packed Edmonton courthouse Friday as Richard Suter, accused of causing a crash into a restaurant patio that killed a young boy, was granted bail. more »
- Canada ranks 3rd last in paid vacations
- Canada ranks third last among economically advanced countries in the amount of paid vacation time it guarantees its workers, a new U.S. study indicates. more »
Must Watch
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- 3D printers give rise to 'desktop manufacturing'
- Customizable objects from plastic dollhouse furniture to medical prosthetics can now be designed and printed out by almost anyone at the press of a button, and is going to lead to an 'explosion of new stuff,' predicts author Chris Anderson. more »
- Google Street View captures Galapagos Islands
- Few have explored the remote volcanic islands of the Galapagos archipelago, an otherworldly landscape inhabited by the world's largest tortoises and other fantastical creatures that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. more »
- King Richard III buried in 'untidy' grave
- New information has surfaced in the odd tale of the British king buried in a car park. King Richard III's remains, which were discovered August under a parking lot in Leicester, England, were laid to rest in a grave researchers are now saying was "badly prepared" and "untidy." more »
- EU pushes through restrictions to protect bees
- The European Union has approved restrictions on three pesticides to better protect dwindling bee populations, to enter into force by December. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Chris Hadfield: The gravity of gravity May. 17, 2013 9:58 AM After five months of being Superman and a media superstar, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is now beginning the challenging task of adapting his mortal body and brain to life back on Earth.
Latest Features
- Executive committee calls on Ford to address crack video allegations
- Rob Ford fired chief of staff for telling mayor to 'get help'
- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford denies using crack cocaine
- Washington police blame bridge collapse on Alberta trucker
- Man 'lucky to be alive' after Washington bridge collapse
- Canada ranks 3rd last in paid vacations
- Amanda Bynes charged for allegedly tossing bong out window
- London attack victim's widow speaks of 'our future together'
- Greg Weston: Senate scandal may be Harper's worst hour
