Bigfoot debuts new Killer Wireless-N family of Wi-Fi adapters

Bigfoot Networks, the technology company that owns the Killer line of networking products for online games, introduced the new Killer Wireless-N family of Wi-Fi adapters.
The new adapters perform up to five times faster than competing products through the use of the latest 802.11n features, according to the company. The adapters should combine wireless networking speed with intelligence and control to deliver a heightened user-end experience for online games, HD video and audio for notebook users.
The design for the adapters is to meet demand for online gaming, on-demand media and time-sensitive applications.
According to Cisco’s June 2010 Visual Networking Index, studies forecast that worldwide consumer Internet traffic related to online gaming, IP communications, online video and audio will grow 500% by 2014 . A 2010 market report by Newzoo MOO claims that 47.5 million people already play online games in the United States and a February 2011 NielsenWire study reports that online video viewing is up 45% in the last year. According to a keynote address at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Skype officials expect users to spend 190 billion minutes per year on online communications, with 40% of those calls implementing video.
“Popular online applications like gaming, Voice over IP (VoIP) and HD video are some of the most sensitive to latency and packet loss over Wi-Fi connections,” said Michael Howse, CEO of Bigfoot Networks. “With our innovative networking technology and advanced 802.11n hardware, Killer Wireless-N adapters not only accelerate performance for online games, they also reduce stuttering, excessive buffering and other annoyances in video chat and on-demand entertainment services. You can watch Internet TV, listen to streaming music or play a first-person shooter while downloading a huge e-mail attachment, and not miss a thing.”
Killer Wireless-N adapters support IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n standards, operate on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands. Killer Wireless-N 1103 and 1102 adapters deliver data rates of up to 450 Mbps and 300 Mbps, respectively, using range-enhancing 802.11n technologies that yield higher data throughput rates over longer distances. Adapters also offer reduced power consumption and Wi-Fi Direct peer-to-peer technology.
Advanced stream detect technology should automatically classify and prioritize latency-sensitive network traffic for online games, HD video and audio, and provide better control and fewer interruptions. Teamed with Bigfoot Networks’ visual bandwidth control technology, users will be able to view and control network traffic for each application in real time using an interface to prioritize use of their bandwidth and tune accordingly. An example of this use is the decision to lower the speed of a download while streaming a movie to avoid buffering interruptions.
Killer Wireless-N adapters will be introduced this month inside gaming and media notebook PCs from vendors including AVADirect, CYBERPOWER, iBUYPOWER, Maingear, ORIGIN PC, Sager, The V-Machine, and Velocity Micro.