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Broadcom(R) Upgrades Market Leading WIDCOMM(R) Bluetooth(R) Software With Enhanced Security, CD-Like Wireless Stereo Sound and New Profiles

Posted on: Monday, 1 November 2004, 12:00 CST

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation , a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor solutions enabling broadband communications, today announced WIDCOMM(R) BTW 4.0, the new release of its popular Bluetooth(R) software, enhancing security and adding advanced audio/video (A/V) capabilities to the industry's most widely adopted Bluetooth software. The new software was tailored and optimized for seamless integration with Broadcom(R) single-chip Bluetooth solutions and enhanced with important security upgrades for enterprise and small office customers. It was also tested and qualified for native support and seamless operation with Microsoft's recently announced Service Pack 2 upgrade for the Windows XP(R) operating system (Windows XP-SP2).

Wireless, high quality stereo audio headsets and speakers enabled by the new WIDCOMM BTW (Bluetooth for Windows) 4.0 software is an exciting new application expected to drive widespread Bluetooth adoption for consumers over the coming years. A/V enhancements built into BTW 4.0 software will bring a new level of audio quality to wireless headsets, enabling a generation of products capable of delivering CD-like stereo sound without the need for wires. The same A/V Bluetooth profile support can be expected to appear in upcoming consumer electronics products like MP3 players, cellular phones, PDAs, and other appliances.

"BTW 4.0 answers two distinct needs in the Bluetooth space: enhanced security, and the ability to effectively stream high-quality audio to wireless headphones or speakers. It is changing the dynamics of how consumers will experience multimedia content on their PCs," said Ron Wong, Senior Product Line Manager for Broadcom's Bluetooth software products. "Broadcom's unique ability to design and deliver all the critical technology pieces for next-generation wireless electronic devices enables our partners to bring products to market quickly and with features that hold great appeal for consumer markets."

BTW 4.0 Enhances Security

Bluetooth has established itself as the clear wireless PAN (Personal Area Network) technology of choice in large corporations as well as small and home office environments. Leading PC OEMs are already shipping Bluetooth in a large number of their commercial notebook PCs and are expecting continuous growth and accelerated adoption into 2005. With this rapid adoption, large enterprises have expressed growing concerns over security and software virus spreads. The new WIDCOMM BTW4.0 software incorporates enhanced security capability to help address these concerns. Broadcom implemented unique software functionality and tested it to ensure a higher level of security, to meet the expectations of the most demanding customers and bolster the software against malicious attacks.

New Software Transforms A/V

PC OEMs have come to appreciate the flexibility of embedding Bluetooth into their desktop and notebook computers to connect wirelessly with mobile phones and PDAs. Wireless mice and keyboards are taking advantage of the technology as well, offering valuable freedom and convenience to consumers. These same advantages are now enabled for stereo headsets and speakers with Broadcom's new BTW 4.0 software. Wireless headsets or speakers enabled with Broadcom Bluetooth technology can stream high quality sound while also performing remote control functions such as pausing or stopping play, and selecting tracks. In addition, consumers can place wireless speakers in all corners of the room, enabling enhanced sound and audio distribution for DVD and CD playback.

New Features and Profiles

Broadcom's WIDCOMM BTW 4.0 incorporates the latest software "profiles," which ensure a common set of features between two Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth profiles are developed and standardized through the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). BTW 4.0 features many of the latest profiles, which provide advanced multimedia capabilities including:

* GAVDP -- Generic Audio Video Distribution Profile

* A2DP -- Advanced Audio Distribution Profile

* AVRCP -- Audio Video Remote Control Profile

BTW 4.0 also supports the Basic Imaging Profile, which provides the ability to "push" and "pull" images wirelessly between a mobile phone or digital camera and a PC. In addition, the new software release was designed to work seamlessly with Broadcom's BCM2035 and BCM2045 single-chip Bluetooth solutions. It was tested and qualified to work seamlessly with Microsoft's latest operating system update, Windows XP-SP2, thereby ensuring forward compatibility to PC OEMs and end-users as they upgrade to this latest operating system.

End users can be assured that as increasingly advanced Bluetooth A/V applications gain adoption, Broadcom's BTW software will enable a richer and more secure user experience.

Availability

Broadcom's WIDCOMM BTW 4.0 software is currently shipping to Broadcom's early access partners.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductor solutions that enable broadband communications and networking of voice, video and data services. We design, develop and supply complete system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions incorporating digital, analog, radio frequency (RF), microprocessor and digital signal processing (DSP) technologies, as well as related hardware and software system-level applications. Our diverse product portfolio addresses every major broadband communications market and includes solutions for digital cable and satellite set-top boxes; high definition television (HDTV); cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) modems and residential gateways; high-speed transmission and switching for local, metropolitan, wide area and storage networking; home and wireless networking; cellular and terrestrial wireless communications; Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateway and telephony systems; broadband network and security processors; and SystemI/O(TM) server solutions. These technologies and products support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).

Broadcom is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and may be contacted at 1-949-450-8700 or at http://www.broadcom.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates,""expects,""intends,""plans,""predicts,""believes,""seeks,""estimates,""may,""will,""should,""would,""could,""potential,""continue,""ongoing," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with its Bluetooth products include, but are not limited to, general economic and political conditions and specific conditions in the markets we address, including the volatility in the technology sector and semiconductor industry, trends in the broadband communications markets in various geographic regions, and possible disruption in commercial activities related to terrorist activity or armed conflict in the United States and other locations; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies and products in the markets for Bluetooth networking applications; delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those markets; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage inventory; our ability to retain, recruit and hire key executives, technical personnel and other employees in the positions and numbers, with the experience and capabilities, and at the compensation levels needed to implement our business and product plans; our ability to specify, develop or acquire, complete, introduce, market and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a cost-effective and timely manner; the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order; competitive pressures and other factors such as the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; our ability to scale our operations in response to changes in demand for our products and services; the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and evolving industry standards and to identify opportunities in new markets; changes in our product or customer mix; the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales; intellectual property disputes and customer indemnification claims and other types of litigation risk; the availability and pricing of third party semiconductor foundry and assembly capacity and raw materials; fluctuations in the manufacturing yields of our third party semiconductor foundries and other problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products; the risks of producing products with new suppliers and at new fabrication and assembly facilities; problems or delays that we may face in shifting our products to smaller geometry process technologies and in achieving higher levels of design integration; the quality of our products and any remediation costs; the effectiveness of our expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; the risks and uncertainties associated with our international operations, particularly in light of recent events; the effects of natural disasters, public health emergencies, international conflicts and other events beyond our control; the level of orders received that can be shipped in a fiscal quarter; and other factors.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of this date. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement for any reason.

Broadcom(R), the pulse logo, Connecting everything(R), the Connecting everything logo, Blutonium(R), WIDCOMM(R) and SystemI/O(TM) are trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. Bluetooth(R) is a trademark of the Bluetooth SIG. Windows(R) and Windows XP(R) are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Broadcom Trade Press Contact

Henry Rael

Sr. Communications Specialist

949-926-5734

hrael@broadcom.com

Broadcom Business Press Contact

Bill Blanning

Sr. Director, Corporate Communications

949-926-5555

blanning@broadcom.com

Broadcom Technical Contact

Scott Bibaud

Director of Marketing, Bluetooth Products

949-926-5868

sbibaud@broadcom.com

Broadcom Investor Relations Contact

T. Peter Andrew

Sr. Director, Investor Relations

949-926-5663

andrewtp@broadcom.com

Broadcom Corporation

CONTACT: Trade Press, Henry Rael, Sr. Communications Specialist,+1-949-926-5734, hrael@broadcom.com, or Business Press, Bill Blanning, Sr.Director, Corporate Communications, +1-949-926-5555, blanning@broadcom.com, orTechnical, Scott Bibaud, Director of Marketing of Bluetooth Products,+1-949-926-5868, sbibaud@broadcom.com, or Investor Relations, T. Peter Andrew,Sr. Director, Investor Relations, +1-949-926-5663, andrewtp@broadcom.com, allof Broadcom Corporation

Web site: http://www.broadcom.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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