Wi-Fi for WPAN

I had a briefing today with Aceurity, which is getting into the "wireless HDMI" space. Interesting stuff. Their Founder and CEO - Vijay Desai - also pointed me to a company using Wi-Fi for WPAN type of applications (short-range cable replacement for peripherals). Ozmo Devices was at the Intel Developer Forum in August demonstrating a wireless mouse reference design along with Avago Technologies, which supplied the optical mouse sensor.

The argument that Ozmo - and Aceurity - are making with their pitches is that Wi-Fi is obviously the de facto wireless connection standard, with unsurpassed penetration in thousands of certified products. I was actually checking out the list of Wi-Fi certified products this week and found a number of consumer electronics devices that are spanning well beyond notebooks, routers, gateways, etc. Given Wi-Fi's dominance, Desai tells me that it makes no sense to force consumer electronics vendors to put two or more radios in their devices (he specifically mentioned UWB and the emerging class of other wireless HDMI solutions that use the 5 GHz or 60 GHz band).

That's an interesting point. The conventional wisdom to date has been that Wi-Fi - and even the 802.11n solution - still won't be robust enough to support high-def video streaming in the home. That's why we've seen a number of vendors and consortia emerge that are looking at different ways of transmitting huge amounts of HD content around the home. Can there be solutions that take advantage of the volumes, costs, and interoperability of Wi-Fi and make it a feasible solution for both WPAN and wireless HDMI type of applications? I'd say that's worth investigating.

TZero Technologies and UWB for Consumer Electronics

TZero Technologies looks to be one company to watch in the UWB for consumer electronics space. The company fell of the UWB radar a couple of years ago when the former CEO decided to take the company's development toward "no-new-wires" solutions for the service provider space. However, in a market that is already heavily leaning toward HomePNA, MoCA, or powerline (mostly in Europe), this wasn't attainable. So, the company brought back Dr. Rajeev Krisnamoorthy as its CEO, got some new personnel from Airgo, and went back to focusing on UWB for "wireless HD" applications.

To date, TZero has two announced products:

• In February, TZero announced that Hitachi was using its UWB solution for a line of Ultra Thin (UT) HDTVs. Hitachi has removed the tuner component for these TVs, making them very slim.
• At the CEDIA show, Gefen announced a Wireless for HDMI Extender using TZero's solution. This product is positioned as a cable replacement solution that allows AV devices such as Blu-ray players, AV receivers, and televisions to link via high-quality connections but without the HDMI cables themselves.

As we look at the new wave of wireless and wired solutions for high-definition video streaming, Gefen will be an interesting company to watch. They've hedged their bets in the wireless HDMI space, showing the aforementioned TZero product as well as one from AMIMON (WHDI), a 60 GHz technology. Furthermore, they use Pulse~LINK's proprietary algorithm for an HDMI-over-coax extender. This can distribute an HDMI signal 300 meters.

Get Ready for the Wireless HDMI Hype

Belkin is really leading the charge for cable replacement solutions. They were (I believe) the first company to put out a wireless USB hub for your desktop, intending to eliminate the cumbersome cabling between your PC and peripherals. This product uses the WiMedia ultra-wideband wireless solution.

Belkin has unveiled its FlyWire wireless HDMI accessory. The company says that it will enable multi-room streaming of content from AV receivers, set-top boxes, game consoles, Blu-ray DVD player, and others. These products will connect to the hub and their content can then be accessed by high-definition televisions that are connected with a receiver.

The race for robust wireless solutions for multimedia streaming is in full gear. While Belkin is using a 5 GHz solution from AMIMON (which they call WHDI), there are plenty of other choices, such as the WirelessHD 60 GHz (using SiBEAM's spec), WiMedia UWB, a company called Radiospire indicates that their solution can use either UWB or 60 GHz), Pulse~LINK can use UWB wirelessly or over coax, and then of course there's venerabe 802.11, which is just now emerging as a potential multimedia solution.

It's going to be a busy summer.

WirelessHD Consortium

Some major players in consumer electronics have banded together to form the WirelessHD Consortium. Including such heavyweights as LG Electronics, Matsushita (Panasonic), NEC, and Samsung, the organization is looking at a 60 GHz wireless solution that can transmit uncompressed high-definition video up to 32 feet. The organization views its role as developing a cable replacement for HDMI, FireWire, and S-Video.

It sure would be nice to not have to create a rat's nest of cabling behind the entertainment center, and this vision is very aggressive, since PC and peripheral makers are just now starting to develop commercial ultra-wideband solutions (UWB) that have the same goal of cable replacement in the IT and mobile/portable space (among most of the first-generation products). The ability to transmit the uncompressed HD video is also going to be a key, since the CE industry looks to be moving to more widely embrace HDMI as the interface between a variety of products, including the high-definition displays that should sell quite well over the last quarter of this year.

Our view? WirelessHD will take some time to deploy, particularly since supporters indicate that products won't be available until 2008 at the earliest. Also, we would expect that cost considerations are going to keep volumes of the wireless solutions low as the cabled interfaces will continue to dominate the market. Also, we would expect there to be plenty of questions about the need for yet one more wireless spec in an industry where 802.11n, UWB, and a host of proprietary solutions are in the mix.

Beyond this, we're still waiting for the truly reliable (and affordable) wireless home theater system to be available so we can quit running speaker wire along our living room floors!

IFA Puts "Consumer" Back into Consumer Electronics

Additional observations from Berlin, where the sky is cloudless and the air has that October feel and the beer is, well, flowing. After all, it is the weekend and anyone remotely curious about electronics has turned out to wander the 30 exhibit halls which make up a large rectangle around, what else, a Biergarten. The mood is festive at Messe Berlin and the halls teaming with dealers, press, company executives and families who have ventured out to see the latest gadgets. Admitting consumers to this event is, to the seasoned American electronics veteran, unusual. Yesterday while discussing next-generation TV strategies with a global silicon company, a nice German family sat down at my table and unpacked their picnic lunch – curiously eavesdropping on our stimulating discussions.

Observing consumer reaction to products, however, is an added benefit to the IFA event. As I sat in Sony’s exhibit to check email, I found myself surrounded by 9 teenagers who were fascinated by the Rolly – an MP3 playing, dancing, light-flashing mini-entertainment robot, if I have properly captured the category name. I had walked past the Rolly casually dismissing it as the latest under-appreciated Sony engineering desperately seeking a market. Moments later, some of the teens were up on my bench, dancing with the Rolly – seeking to either teach it their moves, or imitate its own – which one, I could not determine.

Also in the Sony booth, OLED is in production. OLED’s incredibly thin (and expensive) display technology creates new form factor possibilities for TVs. Sony has developed an elegant mini TV set, about 8 inches diagonal, which would fit beautifully under a kitchen counter, in a desk or in a dorm room. This beautiful creation is not much larger than a digital photo frame but costs a whopping two thousand Euros and won’t be offered in this size to the U.S. market.

Other highlights of IFA include wireless HD. Wireless HD is being touted by Panasonic and several other large TV manufacturers – with wireless HDMI solutions becoming mainstream this year. Also spotted at IFA is 3D for the TV. The Fraunhofer Institute, inventor of MP3, showed compelling 3D technology and demonstrated early methods of converting 2D content to 3D, requiring no stereoscopic glasses. Following several other sightings of 3D TVs around the industry throughout the year, this is a trend to watch (pardon the pun).

Digital photo frames continue to abound, not only as new product offerings, but as compelling digital signage for displays. One new innovation offered from a company called PRINICS is a digital photo frame with integrated printer – now grandmother can simply tap on the picture she likes and out pops a glossy print – assuming she knows how to load paper, ink and, if she is really good, figure out which supplies to pick up at Office Depot.

In the Really Cool department is a pocket sized projector from Epson. The projector is about the size of the average clam shell mobile phone, but much better looking. While its range and duty (30 inches to the display wall) are merely for personal show-and-tell at this point, the possibility of carrying a board room quality projector in one’s pocket in a not too future date is music to the road warrior’s ears.

Surprisingly not many Intel Atom based mini-PCs were seen. One that I did notice was from Korea’s Wibrain. The device is pleasantly easy to use and, of course, familiar given that it runs Windows XP. Wibrain’s marketing message “Sorry Blackberry” can only bring a chuckle to the road warrior as this device is literally the size of brick. Perhaps the message should be “Sorry Symbol” as I can envision this device in the hands of the UPS delivery man, assuming he needs Word, Excel and Solitaire behind the wheel of his brown truck. Nice product but I am unsure of the application.

Of considerable note is the continuing drumbeat of “green.” Toshiba went so far as to dedicate a very large section of its multi-thousand Euro hall to being green. In this space was featured Toshiba’s Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2008, describing the company’s steps in keeping up its responsibility to the environment. Sony’s entire exhibit space was an eerie white “forest”, complete with giant white plaster tree trunks, projected sunsets, cricket chirps and bird noises. While entertaining, I never saw any synergy with the products and technology being displayed with the forest that housed them. As a matter of fact the stark white trees were in such contrast to the sexy glowing products on display that it reminded me that energy-sucking, flashing plastic products just don’t seem environmentally friendly. The question remains, will consumers prefer green companies, or is green becoming a “check box” item which is a requirement of corporate political correctness? Better do some research here.

Ceatec summary from CNET

A good summary today from CNET on the Ceatec show in Japan, one that provides a likely highlight of what's to be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Ultra-thin HDTVs, smart home concepts, 3D displays, and green technology were on display.

Since I'm tracking the development of next-gen wireless home networking solutions for consumer electronics, the comments about WirelessHD and WHDI technologies were interesting:

And for the first time, we saw lots of wireless high-def in action. Panasonic and Sony are using WirelessHD, which sends high-definition video signals without the need for HDMI cables between a TV and a video source. Hitachi did a demonstration using ultra-wideband technology, which uses a different part of the wireless spectrum to send video signals between devices. WirelessHD's solution is best for use in a single room of a house, while UWB can be used in an entire home.

It's been a couple years since this technology was first promised, and most of the hurdles have been overcome. At CES, we'll see even more gadget makers employing either WirelessHD or WHDI.

I do have to take issue with the comment about the positioning of WirelessHD versus UWB solutions, though. The UWB vendors with whom I've spoken indicate that it wouldn't be appropriate to characterize UWB as a whole-house solution, but rather as an in-room (or more accurately in-cluster) HDMI cable replacement between audio/video components and high-definition displays. Given where UWB transmissions sit relative to the noise floor and given the emphasis that developers place on low power emissions (as regulated by the FCC), I don't see UWB as a whole-house solution.

Quick Highlights from CES

The question that we we hear most often after the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is “What did you see that was interesting or ‘cool’?” It’s not an easy question to answer. The press coverage of the show lends itself to pictures and video of huge televisions, tiny mobile handsets, and strange-looking devices (robots, for example). For Parks Associates, however, it’s not necessarily what we see that provides the greatest insight; it’s what we hear during demonstrations and briefings with companies that clue us into some interesting developments. And, every year, we tend to hear much about incremental improvements to devices and services, including (but not limited to) home networks, mobile communications, broadband-related services, digital entertainment, television-related applications, gaming, home systems and controls, and consumer electronics.

I honestly didn't have time to take in the 108-inch television on display at the show, as I was typically running from one meeting to another. However, I had some really interesting meetings with about 40 different companies. Below are some quick highlights of some of the key takeways that I had from the show:

• Eventually (if not quite soon), the home network will need to support HDMI transmission, meaning uncompressed high-definition video. This is for both quality reasons as well as for protecting the content (uncompressed HD content doesn’t fall through the “analog hole.”
• Related to this point, I'm wondering how soon a "wireless for HDMI" solution will hit the market. There is certainly plenty of buzz surrounding companies such as AMIMON, TZero, and the WirelessHD Consortium.
• Ultra-wideband (UWB) commercial products are coming this year and next. Companies were showing different form factors and implementations of the wireless. They have all kinds of form factors (PCMCIA, etc.) for cable replacement and wireless USB applications.
• The powerline debates continue. My colleague Michael Cai hosted a panel on powerline networking, and it's clear that there is little love lost between HomePlug and the proprietary powerline networking solutions. DS2 has some customers who speak highly of the technology's capability. This year will be a critical one for HomePlug to get large volumes of its HomePlug AV solutions out to market.
• It was interesting to hear Scientific-Atlanta talk about using OpenCable’s Linux and Java tools to incorporate Flikr and YouTube applications into the “walled garden.” The operators may likely be the real beneficiary of OpenCable in this respect. Obviously, retail availability of set-tops via CableCARD (another OpenCable part) is going to happen, but I think the key will be helping STB developers more rapidly incorporate the emerging content, services, and applications that the wider Web is going to bring.
• Continued “behind the scenes” talk about how the home network/digital home is going to be managed, and who will be the primary beneficiary of improved broadband and home network management tools. I hosted a panel discussion titled "Business Models for Managing the Digital Home," and we had representatives from Enure, Motive, HiWired, Linksys-Cisco, and Network Streaming to discuss the important elements of digital home management. Another panel on which I spoke ("The State of Home Networking") included this topic as well. Other companies in the space that I saw at CES included Affinegy, Bsecure (demonstrating at the D-Link booth), Cisco (their recent acquisition of RG software vendor Ashley-Laurent), Jungo/NDS, Network Magic, Nexort, and Peak8. I anticipate that 2007 is going to be a significant year in seeing more agreements formed between these vendors and new customers, including broadband service providers, home network equipment vendors, and consumer electronics companies.

Another TV Enters the Networked Zone

It's been a banner year for networked TV introductions, and we have another manufacturer on the board. Mitsubishi has announced a Living Fit TV line that uses the Amimon WDHI solution to wirelessly link an HDTV receiver to an LCD panel. This product will be available in the Japanese market. This TV win is apparently the second for the WHDI technology, which will also be used in the Sharp X Series televisions, also available to the Japanese market.

With the Mitsubishi introduction, I believe we now have seven known manufacturers with at least one wireless television either announced or currently available. Here's the rundown:

• HP MediaSmart TV (has integrated 802.11a/b/g/n) offers movies from CinemaNow and music from Live365
• Panasonic PZ850/VIERA Cast™ offers YouTube videos and access to Picasa, Google's photo sharing service
• Samsung's Series 6 and Series 7 LCD and plasma TVs offer the InfoLink™ RSS Service with customized news, weather, sports, and stock information
• Sharp's SE94U and D74U AQUOS HDTV series feature AQUOS Net, a widget service that provides Nasdaq stock quotes, local weather information, high-definition images, traffic information from Traffic.com, and cartoons
• Sony's BRAVIA® Internet Video Link is a small module that attaches to the back of a selection of the the company’s 2007 and 2008 BRAVIA LCD flat-panel television models and provides on-demand entertainment including movies, TV programs, YouTube videos, and a variety of other free content as well as news, weather and traffic informaiton via an existing Ethernet connection
• Westinghouse teamed with UWB technology provider Pulse~LINK to develop two Wireless HDMI TVs. These will be initially aimed at the B2B space for digital signage applications.

Panasonic shares details on new TVs, Blu-rays, audio gear

Panasonic revealed the pricing of the new iPod/iPhone-docking compact audio systems and new soundbar in its 2011 audio lineup, and revealed more details about a variety of new features and technologies available for the first time on its new 3D Blu-ray HTiBs.

All four compact systems are thin, vertically-oriented single-chassis models, that range from 2.5 to 2.75 inches deep, of which two of the models can be wall-mounted. These four new compact systems, as well as, the three new 3G Blu-ray HTiBs, are the company's first products of its kind to take in music in PCM digital form, from a docked iPod/iPhone to improve sound quality. Meanwhile, two of four new docking compact stereo systems are the company's first with ability to select favorite Internet radio stations for playback, via the systems' included IR remote. Three of the four compact audio systems incorporate AM/FM tuner and MP3-CD players which retail between $99 and $199. The fourth system lacks CD-tuner, and retails for a suggested price of $179. Unfortunately, Panasonic's oversight in providing access to Internet radio in two of its systems leaves users having to pay $1.99 for a vTuner app that accesses Internet radio stations via Apple devices' embedded Wi-Fi radio. The music is then streamed to the compact systems via stereo Bluetooth.

The new soundbar, the SC-HTB520, features wireless outboard subwoofer, one 3D-capable HDMI 1.4 input, an HDMI 1.4 output with audio return channel, built-in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 decoders, and Dolby Virtual Speaker to create virtual surround. The SC-HTB520 features a taller, thinner subwoofer, with downfiring driver.

Panasonic's new DVD HTiB launch is bringing 2D-to-3D conversion to the company's Blu-ray HTiB line, and offering a 3D Effect Controller for the first time. The 2D-to-3D conversion converts 2D video on DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and SD Cards to 3D. The new HTiBs upconvert streaming video-on-demand services to full 1080p, feature built-in WiFi, and allows users to customize the Blu-ray homescreen.The base price of a 3D-equipped HTiB retails at a suggested price of $399 to $499 The top two models priced at $499 and $599 priced are the company's first HTiBs with HDMI inputs. They are also the first two Panasonic HTiBs with optional Skype video chat. All three HTiBs feature 5.1-speaker systems, 1,000-watt outputs, faster loading integrated Blu-ray players, HDMI 1.4a input with audio return channel, and Cinema Surround Plus.

Please click here to read the full article.

Veebeam - another addition to the wireless PC-to-TV connection products list

A couple of weeks ago, I commented on the number of wireless PC-to-TV products that are popping up, taking advantage of a market trend where ten million U.S. households will be using some kind of computer-to-television hookup by the end of this year to watch online video.

Now, you can add Veebeam, which has two PC-to-TV video streamer products. Two models will be available--the $99 Veebeam SD and the $139 Veebeam HD (which adds an HDMI output).

More and Better Game Console Bundles This Holiday Season

I was telling a reporter the other day that although it's unlikely that the three console makers will reduce their prices to adapt to the poor economic environment, we'll definitely see more and better bundles this holiday season, especially from Microsoft and Sony. Guess what, we are still a month away from Thanksgiving, Black Friday style deals are already emerging. Here's one example from Dell's online store. Not a bad deal, really...

Courtesy of dealsea.com.

Xbox 360 120GB HD Elite Holiday Bundle $330, Oct 23
Dell Home has Xbox 360 120GB HD Elite Holiday Bundle for $400 - $70 off coupon code "9VZC3829M7GXC9" (limit 400 uses) = $330 with free shipping.
Package includes:
Xbox 360 Elite Console System, 120GB detachable hard drive
Wireless Controller (black), Headset (black)
Network Cable, Component Cable, HDMI Cable
LIVE Gold Membership, Lego Indiana Jones and Kung Fu Panda

Following up with Icron after CONNECTIONS

In reflecting on some of the highlights of an outstanding CONNECTIONS™ 2009 event June 2-June 4, the introduction of new solutions to enhance the way in which entertainment content is enjoyed was a significant theme. I moderated a panel titled Extending the Reach of Wired Networks and Interfaces that showcased recent efforts in powerline networking, developing extensions to HDMI over twisted-pair, and Icron’s PC-on-TV solution. Rick Merritt at EE Times attended that session and wrote an article discussing the potential fit for the solutions offered by Icron Technologies, Silicon Image, Synerchip, and Valens Semiconductor.

When I was introduced to the Icron solution last September, I was intrigued by the solution that can basically extend a home computer desktop onto a high-definition TV using different types of standard networking solutions (be they Ethernet, “no-new-wires,” or wireless). I think that there’s good potential for products that allow consumers to access Web content on their TVs without going through devices like the digital media adapter or expensive solutions that don’t seem to work quite right.

Brian Donnelly, Icron’s vice president of sales and marketing, who walked me through a demonstration at CONNECTIONS last week, followed up on that article with some notes he wanted to clarify. Brian notes that Icron would be complementary to Valens or Synerchip, as their customers might implement Icron’s solution for whole-home video+USB-type of extensions. He also notes that Icron uses other company’s video chipsets (uncompressed and H.264 encoders/decoders) as part of their solution. So, they’re not looking to create a new video compression chip, but rather work with the solutions that are out there already and add remote USB functionality to enable a true PC on TV experience.

Icron’s “special sauce” – in wonky parlance – they multiplex all the data channels together (video, audio, USB) and perform various QoS and flow control optimizations as well as overall system optimization – this means that Icron has figured out how to ensure priority of the different data types so that your keyboard and mouse (and other USB I/O devices) are immediately recognized and processed as well as ensuring that video/audio are delivered in a very high quality format.

I’m told that products using the Icron PC-on-TV solution will be available in Q1 of 2010. I’ll look forward to seeing how the solution gets implemented.