Broadcom on Monday announced the BCM2079x family of NFC chips which it hopes will spur the mass adoption of NFC. The 40nm-based chips are smaller and are reportedly the most power efficient solution currently available to device makers. Broadcom said the products use 40% fewer components on a 40% smaller surface area and consume 90% less power than competing models. The chips also support a new technology called “Maestro middleware” that allows developers to create NFC apps with support for Wi-Fi ...

Broadcom announced on Monday that it will acquire NetLogic Microsystems for $3.7 billion and current NetLogic shareholders will receive $50 per share owned. “This transaction delivers on all fronts for Broadcom’s shareholders — strategic fit, leading-edge technology and significant financial update,” Broadcom president and CEO Scott McGregor, said. “With NetLogic Microsystems, Broadcom is acquiring a leading multi-core embedded processor solution, market leading knowledge-based proce...

iFixit got down and dirty opening up the iPad 2 Wi-Fi and its Smart Cover accessory over the weekend and has published specs and pictures of the inner workings of both. There aren’t a ton of surprises hiding in the iPad 2, which sports a 1GHz A5 dual-core processor manufactured by Samsung, 512MB of LPDDR2 RAM, a 9.7-inch LED-backlit multitouch display, and 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of internal storage. Its Wi-Fi board is powered by a Broadcom BCM43291HKUBC chip that was used in the first iPad and in the iPhon...

Today, Broadcom announced that it has gained Bluetooth 4.0 certification for its BTE Bluetooth stack and system-on-a-chip solutions. The new Bluetooth 4.0 standard has lower overhead than previous iterations of the technology, using less power and having a lower cost, while providing better range. Expect to see Bluetooth 4.0 hitting mobile devices in early 2012. We’ve got the official press release ready for you after the bounce. (more…)

In an ongoing royalty dispute, it would appear as though Qualcomm and Nokia have reached a settlement agreement. The CDMA chipset maker is going to receive $2.3 billion from Nokia as part of the deal and while that is a ton of cash not to be scoffed at, the current recession and bailouts make it seem like worthless Monopoly money. This is definitely not the time for any company to be paying stiff settlement fees! On top of Nokia’s poor Q3 figures , the settlement is one thing they could have done witho...