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[[File:Logo-RouteFree.png|200px|thumb|RouteFree logo.]]
[[File:Logo-RouteFree.png|200px|thumb|RouteFree logo.]]
'''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.
'''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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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 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, but the system works similar to the Wii.
BroadOn had some influence in the development of the 3DS' and Wii U's software/e-commerce infrastructure (as iGWare), although it is unknown to what extent they were involved due to the 2011 Acer merger.
BroadOn had some influence in the development of the 3DS' and Wii U's software/e-commerce infrastructure (as iGware), although it is unknown to what extent they were involved due to the 2011 Acer merger.
While BroadOn's successor did not have any direct influence in the development of the Nintendo Switch or later platforms, the software concepts which they introduced as early as the iQue Player still remain in Nintendo's latest software environments.
While BroadOn's successor did not have any direct influence in the development of the Nintendo Switch or later platforms, the software concepts which they introduced as early as the iQue Player still remain in Nintendo's latest software environments.