In what will eventually result in higher speed Ethernet server connectivity and core switching products, the IEEE finally ratified the IEEE 802.3ba standard late last week.

"We made changes up until March," said John D'Ambrosia, chair of the IEEE 802.3ba Task Force. "[Compliance] is up to those [vendors] and where their products were up to that point."

D'Ambrosia's referring to the fact that some vendors, like Cisco, have already been trialing 100G Ethernet products for months. According to D'Ambrosia, these vendors are "taking a risk."

In addition to addressing increasing bandwidth needs, the 802.3ba standard is also expected to push the adoption of 10G Ethernet. Pricing, however, could be a sticking point, with some companies charging $1,000 per port for 40G Ethernet switching modules.

You can't get through a discussion about next-generation TV sets without bringing up the topic of 3D, but maybe we have it all wrong. Perhaps we should be talking about Internet-connected TVs instead. Quite frankly, we're a little surprised this hasn't been given more attention already. Nevertheless, ABI Research predicts that by 2013, some 46 percent of flat panel TVs will come with an Ethernet port, up from only 19 percent today.

"New features will include media guides/browsing, Web browsing, and more tightly integrated social and information-based datasets," said industry analyst Michael Inouye.

Internet-connected TVs will also open the door for new ways to advertise and cross-market products.

"TV makers no longer want to build 'dumb screens,'" says Inouye. "Rather than simply selling boxes, TV makers themselves could try to secure part of the revenue generated by ads their devices present."

Intel this week launched what it claims is a first of its kind -- a 10GBase-T server adapter (X520-T2) to support SR-IOV for advanced network virtualization.

According to Intel, the adapter's energy efficient design makes it possible to support two 10GbE ports, allowing one port to provide redundancy and take over should the other port fail. The other advantage to running two ports is the ability to combine them "into one bigger virtual pipe, providing 20GbE of networking bandwidth."

The 10GBase-T adapter is based on the Intel 82599 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller and boasts support for connectivity over distances of up to 100 meters, Intel says. And giving it added flexibility, the X520-T2 ships in a low-profile PCI-E form factor.

More info here.