Broadcom is working hard to catch up with Cisco and Juniper Networks, which own the vast majority of market share in the networking universe.  The company is seeing steady growth, and its latest product is bound to attract some additional attention in the consumer space.

The newly announced  Broadcom BCM20730 65 nm low-power Human Interface Device (HID) reference design and its accompanying software are designed to drastically reduce the power consumption of Bluetooth keyboards and mice, including the ones used in all-in-one PCs such as those offered by HP.  Wireless devices powered by the new chip can plug into the majority of endpoints with Bluetooth support, and the company claims battery life is extended to a maximum of ten years.

“Broadcom innovations continue to expand the usefulness of standard Bluetooth, allowing consumers to take further advantage of one of the most ubiquitous wireless technologies in the world. By boosting the battery life of keyboards to as long as 10 years, this new design satisfies consumer preferences for HIDs that could potentially never need new batteries.”

The chip realizes its power savings by leveraging new Broadcom technology and other innovations such as HID Profile 1.1, which automatically makes performance to power consumption trade-offs when needed.  In addition, BCM20730-powered computer accessories can be used right out of the box.

Broadcom has been targeting wireless technology, an approach that is paying off in light of the considerable growth across all the segments this category encompasses. In September the company acquired 4G semiconductor maker NetLogic for $3.7 billion, and now a new study surfaced that validates Broadcom’s efforts in the mobile industry. Strategy Analytics found that the semiconductor and networking solutions maker has paved its way into the  list of top five smartphone chipmakers.