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[[File:Logo-RouteFree.png|200px|thumb|RouteFree logo.]]

[[File:Logo-RouteFree.png|200px|thumb|RouteFree logo.]]

'''BroadOn''' (formerly known as '''RouteFree''' and later known as '''iGware''') was a software engineering company that contributed to hardware, software, and online platform development for several of Nintendo's consoles. It was launched in April 2000 (possibly April 13, 2000, the day that [[AiLive]] was launched). The company merged with Acer in 2011 with a $320 million deal and became Acer Cloud Computing. BroadOn was founded by a Chinese-American entrepreneur named [[Wei Yen]] who had previously worked on the N64 and GameCube hardware development teams at [[Silicon Graphics]] and [[ArtX]]. BroadOn was a privately held startup company, with 50 employees at its peak.

'''Acer Cloud Technology''' (formerly known as '''iGWare''', '''BroadOn''', and '''RouteFree''') is a software engineering company that contributed to hardware, software, and online platform development for several of Nintendo's consoles. It was launched in April 2000 as RouteFree, and was subsequently renamed to BroadOn in 2003 and iGWare in 2009. The company merged with Acer in 2011 with a $320 million deal and became Acer Cloud Computing. It was founded by a Chinese-American entrepreneur named [[Wei Yen]] who had previously worked on the N64 and GameCube hardware development teams at [[Silicon Graphics]] and [[ArtX]] respectively. It was a privately held startup company, with 50 employees at its peak.

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== Location ==

== Location ==

BroadOn's office was originally in Palo Alto, California (which is now used as the offices for Nest, a company that makes thermostats, smoke detectors, etc.) and then moved to Mountain View, California (which is now used for a school owned by Khan Academy called [https://khanlabschool.org/ Khan Lab School]).

RouteFree's office was originally in Palo Alto, California (which is now used as the offices for Nest, a Google brand) and then moved to Mountain View, California (which is now used for a school owned by Khan Academy called [https://khanlabschool.org/ Khan Lab School]).

== Name change ==

== Name change ==

BroadOn's influence on Nintendo products dates as far back as 2002, when development on the [[iQue Player]] begun; at this point, BroadOn still used the RouteFree name. However, prior to this, BroadOn's founder [[Wei Yen]] had contributed to the hardware development of the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo GameCube, which is why BroadOn was selected by Nintendo for new hardware platform development. BroadOn contributed heavily to the hardware and software development of the iQue Player, creating its SDK and e-commerce services. In April 2018, the scene release group SUXXORS released the iQue Player SDK and plain-text iQue Player titles, marking the first and only known leak of internal BroadOn files.

BroadOn's influence on Nintendo products dates as far back as 2002, when development on the [[iQue Player]] begun; at this point, BroadOn still used the RouteFree name. However, prior to this, BroadOn's founder [[Wei Yen]] had contributed to the hardware development of the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo GameCube, which is why BroadOn was selected by Nintendo for new hardware platform development. BroadOn contributed heavily to the hardware and software development of the iQue Player, creating its SDK and e-commerce services. In April 2018, the scene release group SUXXORS released the iQue Player SDK and plain-text iQue Player titles, marking the first and only known leak of internal BroadOn files.

BroadOn went on to develop much of the Wii's software infrastructure and some of its hardware, providing the [[IOP]] (commonly known as "Starlet") unit inside the Wii's GPU package as well as its software environment, [[IOS]]. This provides the backbone for most of the Wii's features which were not present in the GameCube, such as wireless connectivity and flash memory access. BroadOn also developed most of the Wii's e-commerce infrastructure, with [[Wii Shop Channel]] pages containing references to Acer Cloud Technology.

BroadOn went on to develop much of the Wii's software infrastructure and some of its hardware, providing the [[IOP]] (commonly known as "Starlet") unit inside the Wii's GPU package as well as its software environment, [[IOS]]. This provides the backbone for most of the Wii's features which were not present in the GameCube, such as wireless connectivity and flash memory access. BroadOn also developed most of the Wii's e-commerce infrastructure, with [[Wii Shop Channel]] and [[Nintendo DSi Shop]] pages containing references to Acer Cloud Technology as they had been updated to extend their copyright up to 2014.

BroadOn contributed to the DSi's e-commerce environment as well, although their role in the DSi's overall software infrastructure is unknown.

BroadOn contributed to the DSi's e-commerce environment as well, although their role in the DSi's overall software infrastructure is unknown.