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Samsung developing WiFi variant for TVs, testing elusive 3D rendering chip
There's no telling what kind of off-the-wall gear Samsung is apt to unleash at CES, and we'll be honest -- we're pretty jazzed about the possibilities. At a recent tech forum, Samsung confessed that it was working with both 60GHz wireless technology (read: WirelessHD) and "its own variant of WiFi" in relation to cord-free TVs. This news is particularly bad in two respects: first, it doesn't signal very much confidence in WirelessHD, and moreover, the last thing we need is yet another proprietary wireless HD / HDMI standard to slow down the already glacial pace at which it's being adopted in the industry. Moving on, we're also told that the outfit is "internally testing a stereoscopic 3D rendering chip for its TVs that could be released as early as the second half of 2009," which would "help translate 2D video to 3D and interpret 2D content with embedded depth information." Something tells us we best get used to wearing oddly tinted glasses.[Image courtesy of MyDigitalLife]
SiBEAM founder says WirelessHD is best for "in-room" applications
While AMIMON is busy gloating about its 100,000th chipset shipment, WirelessHD is quietly lurking in the background waiting to exploit a niche of its own. In a rather telling interview, SiBEAM founder John Marshall (pictured) confessed that it was going after a different market rather than taking on the WHDI (and similar) format directly. He stated that its milliwave'-based WirelessHD technology -- which just received a cash infusion from Panasonic and Samsung -- "targets in-room use, whereas the others target whole-home use." He continued by noting that it "limit its use to inside a room to make the most of milliwave's properties, without assuming content transmissions through walls." Finally, we're led to believe that certain partners will be making product-based announcements at CES 2009, though judging by the history of cord-free HD, we wouldn't expect anything to start shipping right away. Or ever, even.
AMIMON ships 100,000th WHDI wireless chipset
A full year after we expected wireless HD to really take off, we're barely in a position different than the one we started in. If we can point to any initiative in particular that has grown legs over the course of 2008, it'd be AMIMON's WHDI. Today, the company has shipped its 100,000th Wireless High-Definition (WHDI) chipset, a milestone that's pretty impressive given the general ignorance of wireless HDTVs in the consumer space. As of now, these chipsets are shipping in ultrathin LCD TVs by top-tier brands (think Sony, Mitsubishi and Sharp), and they're also finding their way into Wireless HDTV dongles that bring cordless freedom to older sets. AMIMON is hoping to see quite a few more WHDI-enabled HDTVs ship to America in 2009 -- we have all ideas the introductions at CES will be a good gauge of how ready manufacturers are to agree. Full release after the break.
Sony's BRAVIA EX1 / ZX1 HDTVs arrive in the UK
Wouldn't you know it? The world's slimmest LCD HDTV and one of the only wireless HDTVs have both arrived in unison in the United Kingdom. Without much fanfare, Sony has delivered the 9.9-millimeter thin KDL-40ZX1 (pictured) / KDL-52EX1 and the likely-WHDI-enabled KDL-40ZX1 / KDL-46EX1 to regions across the pond, though these beauties won't come with you relieving your wallet of some serious poundage. The KDL-40ZX1 gets going at £2,339, and it only gets wilder from there.[Thanks, Marcos]
Panasonic demoes WirelessHD transmission standard at CEATEC
While AMIMON's WHDI technology was the star of the wireless HD show at CEDIA, Panasonic has chosen CEATEC to show off its tether-less system. WirelessHD, which was introduced back at CES, can pass along 1080p content using the 60GHz band milliwave, and data transmissions speeds can reach up to 4Gbps. According to attendees, the cordless Blu-ray demonstration was humming along nicely, which bodes well for it actually launching in 2009. Check out a few more details pics in the read link.
Sony demos battery-powered, fully-wireless OLED TV
What's better than a (cheap) XEL-1? How's about a wireless, battery-powered XEL-1? Sony has recently shown off a completely cordless OLED TV with the same ultrathin chassis as used in the aforementioned 11-incher. Bulking things up a bit is the integrated HDTV tuner, and of course, it's wall-mountable for midgets who live in a Little Tikes playhouse. Unfortunately, there's no real mention of specs (aside from the whole "3-millimeter thin" part), and even worse, there's no telling how long we'll have to wait before we see it hit shelves (let alone grow to a size that's actually useful). Anywho, tap the read link for a plethora of images.
Mitsubishi to launch wireless HDTV, utilize AMIMON's WHDI technology
Now that AMIMON is being taken seriously in the high-def arena, we're hoping to see a number of these releases in the not-too-distant future. Merely months after Sharp announced that its X-Series LCD HDTVs would arrive with wireless HD technology built right in, Mitsubishi has declared that it too will offer sets in Japan that can communicate with WHDI-enabled equipment sans cabling. The TV itself will have an AMIMON chip embedded within, though it will arrive with a separate HDTV receiver unit that connects to the LCD in wireless fashion. Model numbers, prices and all that jazz has yet to be divulged, though the Japanese will evidently be able to buy one of the elusive packages as early as "this fall." Full release after the jump.
Pulse~LINK's UWB-based CWave wireless HD tech gets DCP approval
Boy, that's a mouthful, is it not? Shortly after Motorola, Sony and a whole crew of others teamed up to support AMIMON's WHDI wireless standard, in limps Pulse~Link attempting to act like it still has a shot at gaining traction. The left-for-dead CWave wireless-for-HDMI platform -- which is based on UWB (ultra-wideband) -- just received certification by Digital Content Protection as an Approved Retransmission Technology. This, along with the FCC certification received in 2007, enables CWave to start shipping in commercial products. As expected, a couple CWave-equipped Westinghouse HDTVs are slated to hit stores this fall, but it remains to be seen if anything will actually be released to take advantage. Format wars never end pretty, do they?
AMIMON, Motorola, Sony, et al. join hands on wireless HD standard
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.
Belkin's FlyWire does 1080P without wires
We've all dreamed of wire clutter-free home theaters for years (admit it), and Belkin is about to make things a lot easier with the FlyWire. The new wireless transmitter and receiver can send 1080p video over a 5GHz band. Belkin promises little to no interference and no latency even for you gamers. As for connections, we're looking at three HDMI ins, two component ins, one composite, and one HDMI out. Remote control is done via IR, which should be welcome news to those of you with universal remotes. FlyWire will come in two packages: The FlyWire AV69003 at $999.99 is meant for a whole-home solution with an IR backchannel for multi-room control, while the FlyWire R1 AV69000 at $699.99 is meant for a single room without the IR backchannel. Not exactly cheap, but a heck of a lot cheaper than those custom wireless installs, and a lot more pretty than ripping a hole in your wall for cables. FlyWire should hit stores in October.%Gallery-27272%
CoAir: world's first UWB chipset with wireless, coax and gigabit Ethernet
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.
Study confirms that wireless HD is still far from mainstream
A lot of things in the high-def world are going down in 2012, so it's not shocking at all to hear that we've got yet another thing to look forward to during that fateful year. ABI Research has just loosed a new report that tags wireless HD as being in its "incubation" stage, with fewer than 100,000 devices in the sector scheduled to ship in 2008. Furthermore, analysts are suggesting that 2012 would be the earliest point in which one million wireless HDTV installations occurred worldwide -- and that's an "optimistic forecast." We posed the question a few months back wondering just how long it would take for this stuff to take off. 'Spose we have our answer, huh?[Via Connected Home News]
Sharp's X-Series LCD HDTVs offered with WHDI wireless link
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. %Gallery-21811%
Hitachi's Ultra Thin LCD lineup to boast Tzero's UWB technology
We knew Hitachi's Ultra Thin HDTV family would boast ultra-wideband technology, and while little was said about this aspect during CES, we've now learned that Tzero will be responsible for handling the aforementioned UWB duties. As expected, the UT HDTVs will "be able to receive high-definition video wirelessly from any HDMI equipped audio / video component," as Tzero promises that users will see transmission speeds of up to 480Mbps. Interestingly, we're told that the UWB-equipped sets are available in Japan right now, but only time will tell if those luscious wireless abilities will make the trip stateside in Q2.
WHDI technology to be showcased in wireless HDTV
Amped up about the onset of CES? Stoked about the possibilities of wireless HD? If you answered yes to even one of the aforementioned questions, here's a tidbit sure to keep you salivating. Apparently, a not-yet-named "leading consumer electronics manufacturer" will be showcasing a WHDI-enabled HDTV at CES, which will reportedly be able to receive "uncompressed 1080p 60Hz HD video streams wirelessly." The chipset handling the dirty work is the AMIMON AMN2110/AMN2210, and while there's little more to say beyond that, you can rest assured that we'll be looking to find out more about this elusive set as soon as it gets unveiled.
