Marvell is a large company with several hardware products already installed in major game systems and devices, but they really aren’t talked about very much. Some systems that include their hardware are wireless printers, the PlayStation Vita and other game systems. The Wi-Fi chip allows customers to connect to wireless home networks and Wi-Fi hotspots.

Depending on the Internet speed of your provider and the type of hardware you own, Wi-Fi connections can already be pretty fast. The fastest most common Wi-Fi speed available is currently 802.11n, which can handle a maximum net data rate of about 600 Mbit/s. The new Marvell chipset will introduce the possibilities of a new super speed, referred to as 802.11ac. This new Wi-Fi may be able to handle up to 1 Gbit/s – almost double the currently popular speed.

With their hands already in several different products and tech categories, Marvell is now trying to bring all devices this higher speed. But are people looking to increase Wi-Fi speeds or are they moving toward mobile technology? While it’s no doubt that Marvell could lend their expertise and hardware devices to more mobile devices, it seems as though right now they are mostly integrated into home office and home entertainment devices.

There will always be a market and use for Wi-Fi communications, but how big will that market be? It is still quite popular and many homes and companies use Wi-Fi to connect computers, printers, servers and game systems. Of course, it will also take more for Internet Service Providers, especially the smaller ones, to be able to handle the higher speeds.

This will obviously take a while to become the “new standard” – as Marvell is hoping for. Especially because different Wi-Fi products may not be fully compatible with each other. This has happened once before – when the 802.11n products were first being introduced. But I’m thinking it will take longer this time around for 802.11ac to become the new norm in Wi-Fi. More people are using mobile phones and tablets – along with Internet access directly from a mobile service provider. Until Marvell can get its foot into the mobile industry’s door, it will take a while.