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Philips to unwire the home theater

Philips today announced an agreement with Metalink Ltd. to use Metalink's 802.11 Draft-n technologies in its consumer electronics products for in home use. In the deal, Philips will integrate 802.11 technologies into devices such as set-top PVRs, receivers, HDTVs and other home theater devices. According to Philips, the company will be one of the first to push for high-definition wireless transmission of audio and video in the house.

Based on the 802.11n WiFi standard, Metalink's wireless solution will provide connections for Philips advanced TV, set-top box (STB) and digital media adapter (DMA) system reference designs to ensure reliable in-home transport of HD video. This facilitates a truly Connected Home where consumers will be able to connect to information and entertainment services from IP, terrestrial, cable and satellite providers anytime and anywhere. Featuring MIMO technology adopted by the 802.11n standardization, Metalink's WLANPlus chipset can deliver multiple HDTV streams to any location within a radius of 100 feet in the 5GHz frequency band.

Philips will integrate the technology so that a device such as a PVR will be able to stream HD quality audio and video wirelessly to another device such as an HDTV. This way, no cables and messy setup is required. Devices of this type do not even need to be in the same room. The technology is also expandable. One received can stream separate programs to different HDTV sets. For example, a TV in the kitchen can be watching a news program while another TV in the living room can be watching a movie.

Philips public relations claimed that 802.11n will enable these devices to come into market and deliver content and functionality never before possible. 802.11n will enable users to setup their home theaters and media center PCs in unconventional manners such as hiding components into walls and cabinets without the worry of running unsightly wires. According to Philips, consumer audio/video devices with 802.11n integration will reach up to 70 million units in 2007.

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so much
By ksherman on 6/15/2006 9:59:14 AM , Rating: 2
talk of implimentation of the n standard... but it still hasnt been officially finished... hope that doesnt blow up in their faces!




RE: so much
By namechamps on 6/15/2006 10:25:39 AM , Rating: 2
the only losers will be consumers. Phillips, and others will sell this "drsft n" junk.

The last vote on the draft FAILED by a wide margin. Something like 30% aprove when 66% aprove is required. There are large and critical issues with these "draft n" items.

Best bet is to use plain cheap G wireless. If u NEED more speed I saw a test (toms networking I think) in which the turbo G products worked better, faster, and with less issues than this draft N garbage.

Notice there are no enterprise draft n junk? That is because business require stability and interoperability of which draft n has neither.


Awesome Idea
By xKelemvor on 6/15/2006 2:30:49 PM , Rating: 2
Now this sounds like a great concept. Imagine having a whole entertainment system with just power cables and nothing else.

Not saying that going PRE-n is the way but eventually this will be huge...




RE: Awesome Idea
By littlebitstrouds on 6/15/2006 4:20:23 PM , Rating: 2
This is something, as an idea, that I would love, love, love to have. I don't even want to see all the wires I have in back of my Home Theatre setup. Not to mention adding a HTPC didn't help either.


would Never work
By Xavian on 6/15/2006 4:38:57 PM , Rating: 2
Its the same as wireless speakers, the latency for wireless against wires is just too much to stop any form of delay with the picture.

Also with wireless speakers, you would need a power cbale going to every speaker from either the plug or the central subwoofer or even batteries which would be more expensive. Wireless is great for things like data transfer, internet browsing, playing games and even mice/keyboards and such devices. But for speakers and other multimedia applications it just isn't suited.




RE: would Never work
By Xavian on 6/15/2006 4:40:59 PM , Rating: 2
i would also add, until the inherent latency of WiFi is solved (compared to wires), wireless audio/video transmission in sync would never work pratically.


PoWE
By UNHchabo on 6/16/2006 12:53:06 PM , Rating: 2
Don't be so pessimistic about wireless speakers. All we need to do is implement a new 802.11 standard dealing with Power Over Wireless Ethernet! We already have 802.3af, bringing us Power Over Ethernet, all we have to do is adapt it for wireless connections.

Seriously though... I wouldn't suggest buying anything unless the standard has been published in its final form, and companies have made products based on the final paper.




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