SANTA CLARA, CA, Oct. 20, 2009 (Marketwire) --

SANTA CLARA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/20/09 -- Atheros Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHR), a global leader in innovative technologies for wireless and wired communications, today announced that its XSPAN® and Align(TM) 802.11n solutions in combination with its ETHOS(TM) Ethernet solutions are enabling high-performance wireless and wired connectivity with ultra low-power operation across Acer's innovative PC platforms. Acer, now the world's second-largest PC company(1), has integrated Atheros' popular designs for PCs in its new Aspire Timeline thin-and-light notebooks, Aspire One netbooks and Aspire Revo nettop models.

Atheros XSPAN 2-stream 11n PCIe solutions deliver up to 300 Mbps data rates for advanced multimedia networking in a wide variety of Acer notebook, netbook and nettop platforms, while the company's Align single-stream PCIe solutions based on the 802.11n specification deliver up to 150 Mbps data rates for robust data networking in Acer's base-model netbooks. Both of these leading Atheros' 11n technologies have been deployed worldwide across PC platforms as well as in infrastructure equipment for retail, enterprise and carrier gateways for the home. This large 11n ecosystem of APs and clients enables high-performance, end-to-end connectivity, enhancing the user's wireless experience. Using Atheros low-power designs, select models of Acer notebooks, netbooks and nettops are ENERGY STAR qualified. Computing products earning this designation use 75 percent less electricity than comparable PCs without power management features.

"Acer's Aspire Timeline thin-and-light series are among the most energy-efficient notebooks available," said David Lee, assistant vice president, Mobile Computing Business Unit for Acer. "Atheros WLAN and Ethernet technologies enable significant power reductions, and when combined with Acer's additional power-saving features, extend battery life enabling the new thin-and-light notebooks to run all day on a single charge."

The new, innovative Acer platforms which embed Atheros' 802.11n and Ethernet technologies include:

--  Acer Aspire Timeline Thin-and-Light Series
    Atheros XSPAN 11n chip, the AR9281, and ETHOS controller solutions, are
    featured in a variety of thin-and-light notebooks in Acer's Aspire Timeline
    series. XSPAN's high bandwidth is ideally suited for rich multimedia
    applications supported by the thin-and-light platform, and Atheros'
    technology provides the energy efficiencies necessary for the platform's
    compact design and battery size.