You've got to be kidding us. No, seriously -- this has to be a joke. Just last month, we witnessed in person a FlyWire unit beaming a 1080p Blu-ray signal wirelessly to an HDTV, and the results were nothing short of astonishing. For whatever reason, the box -- which was officially unveiled back at CES 2008 -- won't even be ready for next year's Vegas extravaganza. While we were told at CEDIA that the unit would begin shipping out in October (like, right now), Melody Chalaban, a marketing executive and spokeswoman for Belkin has informed Electronic House that it "won't be able to make [its] anticipated deadline of the winter CES show." Unfortunately, she gave no indication of when it actually would ship, leaving us to wonder if the dawn of the wireless HD era is being pushed back altogether. Again.

Update: Melody herself contacted us to clarify a bit and provide some guidance for release. According to her, the FlyWire is being delayed due to "compliance issues, and it will be available late January 2009."

With Belkin's FlyWire just about to hit the market, JVC's planning to ride the wave and produce a wireless HDMI box of its very own. The unit was said to be a last minute addition to its CEDIA arsenal, and the representatives on hand weren't even briefed on what wireless technology the demo was using. Of note, there was a live demo involving no smoke nor mirrors, where the box received a 1080p signal via HDMI and beamed it out to a hidden receiver that was connected to an HDTV via (you guessed it) HDMI. JVC is obviously aiming for consumers with just one primary set-top-box (a PS3, for instance), and the plug-and-play nature means it can work with any source and any display so long as HDMI is involved. Pricing hasn't been set, but we were told to expect a Q1 2009 launch. Check out the prototype in the gallery below.

Belkin has been dangling its FlyWire wireless HD box for, what, ever now? Thankfully, it seems that all the kinks have been worked out, and the October ship date should actually stick. A few tidbits we learned while hanging out at the outfit's CEDIA booth: first, we confirmed that the technology within the device is AMIMON's, so we're guessing it's WHDI. Secondly, we heard that the retail price of the top-end AV69003 may scoot up to $1,499 when it's finally released. We know, that's a lot of coin to make your components cord-free, but the demonstration showing off Blu-ray streaming through thin air was nothing short of astounding. No hiccups, no jaggies, no hints whatsoever that there wasn't a direct HDMI connection. Check the box (and the receiver) out in the flesh over at Engadget HD.

For awhile now, ultra-wideband (UWB) has been on the way down in terms of popularity, and all the while, AMIMON's WHDI technology has been racking up an unprecedented amount of support. At this year's CEDIA conference, we've got adapter manufacturer Gefen backing both sides by introducing separate wireless HD solutions built around Tzero's UWB tech and the aforesaid WHDI. It's hard to say if both of these formats will continue to be supported (though if we had to guess, we'd say WHDI has the upper hand), but at least for now, Gefen's playing it safe rather than casting a vote. We've a term in Washington for your kind, Gefen, and that term is fencesitter.

Read - Gefen supports WHDI!
Read - But wait, Gefen supports UWB!

Be still, our hearts! After watching the wireless HD / HDMI sector fumble along for years on end, a team of mega-corps have finally agreed to push their self-interests aside and collaborate on a standard. WHDI creator AMIMON has joined forces with Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Sharp in order to form "a special interest group to develop a comprehensive new industry standard for multi-room audio, video and control connectivity" utilizing the aforementioned Wireless Home Digital Interface technology. Reportedly, the group will have a standard completed before 2009 dawns, but we all know how easily these things can get pushed under the rug. Nevertheless, the overriding goal here is to "enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, AV receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top-boxes, game consoles and PCs." A tall order, sure, but one we're elated to see taken on. Full release (and promo spot) after the break.

Sigma Designs has been dabbling in wireless HD technologies for eons, so we aren't going to get too excited until we see this here system-on-chip (SoC) actually hit some products that we care about. Still, the CoAir is a fairly sweet concept, wrapping integrated wireless, coax and gigabit Ethernet capabilities into one single chip aimed at whole home networking. Put simply (or as simply as possible), this chip is the world's first to "simultaneously deliver multiple independent streams of video and data over coax cable, Ethernet cable and wirelessly without compromising quality of service and throughput." Based on the WiMedia standard, it can reach speeds of up to 480Mbps with UWB (ultra-wideband) wireless streaming, and room-to-room linkage via UWB-over-coax can peg those same rates. What we have here is a great basis for building a whole home server on, but until said device emerges and performs flawlessly, we'll just smile and carry on.

Remember those "world's thinnest" X-Series LCD HDTVs we spotted earlier this year? On their way over from Japan to the US, Sharp has whipped up a partnership with AMIMON in order to offer a wireless HDTV link based on the latter company's WHDI technology. Apparently the 37-, 42- and 46-inch displays will be sold in both nations with an optional wireless video transmitter (read: each set is "wireless ready"), giving users the ability to send uncompressed HD to their HDTV from up to 100-feet away. As for US pricing and availability, Sharp's not quite ready to dish out those points, and while we're not exactly sure if this is the launch that finally gets wireless HD headed in right direction, it certainly can't hurt matters. Full release posted after the jump.

Pulse-Link and Westinghouse displayed their UWB-equipped wireless HDMI LCD, streaming 1080p goodness from an attached Blu-ray player. The JPEG2000 compression showed no trace of artifacting as the video passed three, shoot, maybe four feet without the aid of such antiquated devices as cables. Due for B2B applications soon, they still hope to make this available for consumers by year-end with a minimal cost premium over wired devices (read: a few hundred dollars), until then just check out these pics and dream of the future.

We didn't have to wait for CES to begin to find out the UWB camp's response to WirelessHD 1.0, Westinghouse and Pulse-Link plan to demo the first "fully-integrated" wireless HDTV Saturday. The Westinghouse Digital Wireless HDMI HDTV should hit the B2B digital signage marketplace in the second quarter, and could see release to consumers by the end of the year. If wired HDMI is just too complicated, Pulse-Link's CWave Wireless HDMI promises 40 foot range with no loss of quality. No word yet on exact price, or what kind of Monster accessories we can expect to enhance our wireless viewing experience, but this seems a lot more tangible than the Philips wireless HDTV technology vaporware from CES '07.

That wireless USB hub you peeked this morning was just the calm before the storm, as Gefen has now unveiled a smorgasbord of HD converters, extenders, and other accessories that you just can't do without. Up first is the $249 Component + Digital Audio to HDMI Adapter, which pipes that recently one-upped component and Toslink connection into a single HDMI cable. Next, it looks like Gefen is expanding its PVR lineup with an HD iteration that supports HDMI and is capable of recording HDCP-compliant sources in 1080p. Moving on, you'll find a 4x4 HDMI CAT5 Matrix to string your HDMI signals along up to 200-feet using vanilla CAT5 cabling, and the $399 Component Audio Extender enables nearly any audio source to be transferred 330-feet away over Ethernet. Last (but certainly not least), the $699 Wireless HDMI Extender delivers a plug 'n play method of extending HDMI signals up to 33-feet over the air with no loss in quality. Unsurprisingly, Gefen's latest niche convenience products won't enter your AV system without a premium, so be sure and avoid the gallery below if you're already being negatively tempted to pick something up.

Read - Component + Digital Audio to HDMI Adapter
Read - Personal Video Recorders
Read - 4x4 HDMI CAT5 Matrix
Read - Component Audio Extender
Read - Wireless HDMI Extender

Looks like CES 2007 is the place to be for wireless HDMI, as now we've seen offerings from AMIMON, Philips, and Tzero showcasing the ability to stream beautiful 1080p HD sans wires, and now Asus is joining the fold. Apparently basing its self-branded product line on technologies from Tzero and Analog Devices, the admittedly vague press release simply informs us that the company will be fighting tooth and nail in the wireless HDMI over UWB arena, and notes that we'll be seeing "accessory devices and embedded designs that dramatically simplify connections between home audio and video electronic components." Per usual, Asus' box will accept component, composite, S-Video, and HDMI (HDCP-compliant) signals, and the video is then compressed using Analog Devices' ADV202 JPEG2000 video codec, where it's then combined with audio, packetized and encrypted, and transmitted via the Tzero MAC and PHY chip. So until we can mosey on over to see some of this stuff in action, we'll just have to take Asus' word for it, as the company withheld information regarding model numbers, prices, and release dates for the time being.

While the show floor is just about to open, we've already had a few days chock full of content. Ryan and Peter sat down with some other members of the Engadget family to talk about some HD announcements, first looks at at new cameras and the big two keynotes of Sony and Microsoft. No enhanced show today, but we've got three more Engadget podcasts on tap while we're in lovely Las Vegas.

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Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block

Producer: Randall Bennett

Music: Solvent - Instructograph (Ghostly International)

Program:

02:26 - Live from the Sony Keynote
05:40 - Sony's new camcorders, including four new consumer HD cams
05:56 - Sony's wireless boombox, the WA1
06:52 - Sony Vaio VGX-TP1 announced, loaded up with HDMI out, DVD burner
09:10 - Sony announces "BRAVIA Internet Video Link" for HD content
12:30 - Xbox 360 IPTV interface gallery
17:52 - Windows Home Server, everything you need: features rundown, screens, hands-on
20:44 - Wireless HDMI over UWB? Heck yes!
21:33 - Microsoft announces the HP TouchSmart PC
22:12 - Live from the Bill Gates keynote
26:10 - A lunchtime chat with Bill Gates at CES
29:20 - Sharp trumpets 108-inch LCD TV, world wonders why
32:15 - LG's BH100 hybrid Blu-ray & HD DVD player: $1,199
34:41 - Samsung builds on ATSC, develops A-VSB for mobile broadcasting
39:00 - Live coverage of Verizon's press conference
43:25 - Hands-on with the Samsung SCH-U620 for Verizon
44:10 - Hands on with the LG VX9400 for Verizon
44:57 - Nokia puts Nseries on a diet: the N76
47:38 - Hands on with the Treo 750

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Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com

Some buzzwords just sound good together. Like robots and flamethrowers -- those two just hit it off right from the start. Now Tzero Technologies and Analog Devices are teaming up for a new standards-based wireless HDMI tech that marries UWB with everybody's favorite home theater plug. Tzero is bringing the UWB to the table, while Analog Devices' is sharing their JPEG2000 video codec. A UWB transmitter compresses all the HDMI data on the way out of a video device and a receiver converts it back to HDMI on the way back into your display. With a range of 30 meters, and no line of sight requirements, all sorts of diabolical home theater configurations become possible. For instance, we can envision a ceiling mounted projector without all the wiring, or a noisy HTPC hidden away without similar hassles. According to Tzero, the first adapters should be out in a couple of weeks, and the price should be "similar to other WiFi devices." We'll be sure to test out the performance before we jump in with two feet, but if the price is right we're liking where this wireless HDMI thing is headed.

[Via Cnet]