Sony

Also Noted: WHDI emerges

Jim O'Neill — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 07:23:21 -0400

Chipmaker Amimon’s alliance with Sony and Samsung to support its Wireless Home Digital Interface technology is likely to move the industry forward even as it puts the consumer electronics giants at odds with another technology they support, WirelessHD. “Interestingly, both of these companies have veterans from the HDMI [high-definition multimedia interface] industry,” one expert said. “Both companies understand what it takes to put an industry standard in place and are modeling theirs after the HDMI group. ... People are enamored with wireless technologies, and the ability to send video data from your DVD player or set-top box to the TV is the holy grail of wireless video communication.”

Source: TelephonyOnline

NXP acquires Conexant unit for $110 million

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:30 -0400

NXP Semiconductors last week announced it is acquiring the broadband media business of Conexant Systems for about $110 million, a deal value which could rise of the business unit meets certain performance thresholds in the months to come. The deal is significant to NXP's ability to compete against semiconductor players Broadcom and STMicroelectronics, the company told EETimes. The Conxant unit, like NXP, has expertise in the area of IPTV. The Conexant unit also brings technology related to DOCSIS 3.0, Multimedla over Coax Alliance and Secure Video Processor standards. The Conexant group collected about $205 million in revenue in 2007.

For more:
- see this story at EETimes

Related articles:
- Conexant joined the MoCA board last fall. Conexant report
- Sony, NXP team for mobile payment chip venture NXP report

SPOTLIGHT: Blu-ray wins two key retailers

Tom Burton — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 06:59:00 -0500

DVD distributor Netflix and Best Buy, the big U.S. electronics retailer, have thrown their support behind Sony's Blu-ray high definition DVD format. The support of the two major retailers for Blu-ray effectively means the end of the format war with Toshiba's HD DVD. It follows a decision by Warner Bros to switch to Blu-ray. Netflix will wind down its HD DVD stock and Best Buy said they would now actively promote Blue-ray. The No. 1 CE retailer Wal-mart has not announced its position on the two technologies. Many analysts believe there will be a sharp uptake of next generation DVD players once the format issue is settled. Netflix is also teaming with LG to build a video on demand set top box. Report

Convergence kills CES, NAB, CTIA...

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 06:59:55 -0500

Sony brought their stars, so too did NBC. Telco executives were everywhere and a cable guy gave the keynote address. The usual corridors of gadget wizardry were on show but what stood out at CES2008 was that everyone--carriers, MSOs, broadcasters, the big production, gaming and software houses and of course the CE salesmen--was there. Could it be what we are finally watching play out live is the much anticipated convergence?

There may be more devices than ever, but as machines all become IP enabled, behind the scenes the carriers, cable companies and broadcasters that power them are morphing into "digicoms" delivering a variety of digital medias through a variety of digital devices. In time, conferences such as CES, NAB and CTIA are set to be quaint reminders of a time when technologies were hard wired to content and distribution. -Tom