Atheros Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Solutions Help Acer Enhance the Mobile Connectivity Experience

Industry-Leading Wireless Technologies Provide High-Speed Internet Access and Personal Area Networking for Acer Notebooks and Netbooks

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Computex – June 3, 2010 — Atheros Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHR), a global leader in innovative technologies for wireless and wired communications, today announced that its 802.11n Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® 3.0 solutions are enabling ultrafast connectivity and innovative wireless features for Acer’s latest notebooks and netbooks. With a focus on improving the mobile experience, Acer has adopted Atheros’ multi-stream XSPAN® and single-stream Align™ wireless LAN (WLAN) solutions on its mobile PC platforms on to provide high-speed connectivity for Internet access and media sharing. Acer is also utilizing Atheros’ Bluetooth 3.0 technology to provide convenient wireless peer-to-peer connectivity for sharing data files and multimedia content between devices.

Highlights:

• Wireless connectivity has become ubiquitous in today’s mobile PCs, as users want constant access to media content, online applications and social networks. All notebooks and netbooks now feature Wi-Fi for Internet browsing, media streaming and file sharing, and nearly half of PCs use Bluetooth to transfer files from mobile devices and eliminate cords to connect peripherals.
• As a leading supplier of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology, Atheros’ broad portfolio enables Acer and other PC vendors to tailor their platforms for different wireless applications and price points. In addition to the industry’s most popular single-stream 802.11n technology for netbooks, Atheros offers 2-stream and 3-stream 802.11n products that provide greater bandwidth and coverage for mainstream and premium PCs.
• To complement the high-speed connectivity of Wi-Fi, select Acer systems also offer personal area networking capabilities based on Atheros’ Bluetooth 3.0 + High Speed solutions. With simple pairing, low power consumption and transfer speeds that are over 10 times faster than previous Bluetooth standards, Bluetooth 3.0 can provide convenient and reliable connections between PCs and billions of handsets and consumer devices.
• Atheros was instrumental in the development of the Bluetooth 3.0 + HS specification, and has done extensive interoperability testing to ensure problem-free short-range connectivity for PC users. Atheros not only delivered some of the industry’s first stand-alone Bluetooth 3.0 chips, but also offers PCIe modules that combine Bluetooth 3.0 with its 1-stream or 2-stream 802.11n Wi-Fi solutions. All of Atheros’ Bluetooth 3.0 solutions support Windows XP®, Windows Vista®, Windows 7® and Linux® operating systems.
• Acer and Atheros are also collaborating on Direct Connect™ peer-to-peer features in preparation for the forthcoming Wi-Fi Direct™ standard, which will enable seamlessly peer-to-peer on Wi-Fi devices. Atheros Direct Connect peer-to-peer technology can connect PCs and mobile devices without cables or wireless routers – enabling people to easily synchronize, send and print files or share Internet connections. When used with Atheros’ 3-stream 11n solutions, Direct Connect supports more advanced applications, such as multi-player gaming and streaming audio and video content between devices.
• Direct Connect software is built into all Atheros’ 802.11n solutions for PCs, and is also used in mobile phones from leading vendors. It is compatible with all features of the forthcoming Wi-Fi Direct specification from the Wi-Fi Alliance®.
• Atheros also provides innovative coexistence technologies that further improve the wireless experience for PCs that feature both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Since both radios operate on the same part of the wireless spectrum, they can interfere with one another, causing poor performance and dropped connections. PC OEMs can optimize performance by using Atheros’ Universal Wireless Cooperation^™ technology, which mitigates interference by facilitating greater cooperation between the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios. This provides significant benefits for mobile users, by enabling faster Web surfing and file transfers, smooth media streams and clear voice transmissions on the WLAN link, and uninterrupted synching and glitch-free use of wireless mice and keyboards on the Bluetooth link.

Supporting Quotes:

• “We are proud to be a leading connectivity partner for Acer, the world’s number two PC company,” said Gary Szilagyi, vice president and general manager of Atheros’ Computing and Consumer Business Unit. “As more consumers demand always-on connectivity, ease-of-use has become just as important as performance. Atheros is innovating on both fronts, enabling PC OEMs to deliver fast and reliable connections while taking the ‘work’ out of networking.”
• “As Internet content continues to proliferate, improved connectivity from mobile devices is becoming increasingly desirable,” said David Lee, associate vice president of Acer’s Mobile Computing Business Unit. “Our customers want the best possible wireless experience as far as uninterrupted stability, speed, and content sharing.  Atheros’ broad technology portfolio helps us fulfill the diverse connectivity requirements across our range of notebooks and netbooks, and enables us to build a better mobile ecosystem.”