WiFi Wireless said a field test proved the value of its long-distance technology. One laptop with the company’s chip sent data to another 7 miles away and each used less than 1 w of power, WiFi Wireless said Tues. “This will surely change the whole ‘hot spot’ delivery for the Internet,” said Planetel CEP Gene Curcio, who attended the demonstration, according to the announcement. The date and location of the test weren’t given. WiFi Wireless said it planned more tests and demonstrations for Planetel’s S. Korean customers, which include the Agency for Defense Development and the Korean Veterans Assn.
In “The Battle for the Digital Home,” satellite TV companies and the consumer electronics industry “are at risk of consolidation or financial pressure unless they make strong moves to change their fate,” Forrester analyst Ted Schadler predicted in a research report.
The Atmel T4260 RF tuner chip has been certified for use in automotive and home HD Radio receivers, licensor iBiquity Digital said Thurs. The company described the T4260 as a complete front-end solution for AM and FM digital reception. “The availability of another tuner design option is an important development in the rollout of HD radio technology as it will help receiver manufacturers get HD radio products to market faster and help reduce the associated manufacturing costs,” said iBiquity COO Jeffrey Jury. IBiquity also scheduled a Jan. 5 news conference on the eve of the Las Vegas CES where executives from Bonneville, Clear Channel, Cox, Entercom and Radio One will disclose accelerated nationwide HD radio conversion plans, iBiquity said.
The FCC voted 3-2 to reduce Bell requirements to share unbundled network elements (UNEs). The FCC: (1) Eliminated the UNE platform (UNE-P) as a CLEC entry strategy, although it extended the transition to a year from the 6 months proposed in the Wireline Bureau’s original proposal. (2) Dropped dark fiber loops from the list of elements the Bells must share. (3) Slightly reduced the number of situations when the Bells must share high-capacity loops and transport.
Wavesat, one of the of the smallest developers of WiMAX ICs, has become the first to release a product that complies with the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard, beating Intel and Fujitsu Microelectronics America, ABI Research said. Wavecast announced availability of its 6th-generation OFDM chip, the DM256, marking “a milestone in the development of WiMAX infrastructure,” said ABI Research Senior Analyst Philip Solis. But he said “Wavesat’s massive competitors are breathing down its neck. As a smaller company, Wavecast can be more nimble, and has stolen this first march, but Intel and Fujitsu Microelectronics already have secured relationships with customers who will wait until they release their own products early next year. And when those milestones occur, Wavesat’s huge adversaries will have much greater production capacity.”
REDWOOD CITY, Cal. -- Most of the world action in communications technology and devices is in northern Asia, Intel’s senior executive in that sphere said. “I get 75% of my ideas over there,” Sean Maloney, exec. vp-gen. mgr., communications group, told the Microventures investment conference here Wed.
Broadcom announced a new video decoder/audio processor chip that supports H-264 advanced video compression technology. The technology significantly reduces the bandwidth required to deliver HD and digital content over service operator networks and to store HD media on conventional DVDs and system hard discs.
Freescale Semiconductor has officially become a separate company after its spinoff from Motorola. Motorola shareholders get 0.110415 shares of Freescale Semiconductor Class B common stock for each outstanding share of Motorola common stock they own. The company is a leading promoter of ultra-wideband technology.
Conexant Systems introduced what it called the world’s first family of H.264-compliant decoders for next- generation HDTV delivery. “More efficient modulation and compression techniques are essential for bandwidth- intensive services such as HDTV,” said Jeff Crosby, Conexant vp-broadband media processing products. He said his company’s CX2418X family of decoders would give operators “significantly improved current compression rates and bandwidth utilization, enabling them to deliver more content using their existing infrastructure.” Samples of the CX24180 device are available, and volume production of the complete CX2418X family is set for 2005’s 2nd quarter, Conexant said. The chips are $20 each for 10,000.
Broadcom said Scientific-Atlanta would use its VoIP chips and software to develop next-generation VoIP telephone adapters. It said the adapters would enable compatibility of VoIP network service offerings worldwide.