On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Avega Hooks Up Cisco, Maybe Apple

Avega (the Australian Company who developed the next-gen of audio wireless technology now being used by Cisco) will roll out a video wireless system that will stream HD content over a normal 802.11n wireless network without a set top box.

Avega Systems is now a US entity. With the development team still based in Sydney this start-up could become a major CE player in the wireless audio market after investments of $7 Million last year by Cisco Systems, JAFCO Asia and Technology Venture Partners

The core of the Avega offering is an 802.11n-based hardware platform and "skeleton" user interface that clients such as Cisco can customize. Other partners could offer different features, such as gesture recognition.

Go Avega Systems

First TV with Control4 Automation Built-In 

LG is the first to incorporate the Control4 OS into TV sets. LG's commercial division intends to sell these TVs into hotels and boardrooms. The home automation wants to become the "home OS" and expects this deal to eventually carry over into consumer products..

With the success of the LG deal, Control4 launches its new Control4 Partners Program to sign up additional 3rd-party makers to design products that easily integrate with the Control4 platform.

The Control4 Partners Program offers four key designations representing the most effective methods of product integration for every company:

• Control4 Powered means Control4 core technology is embedded in third-party products;
• Control4 Ready denotes that Control4 software is embedded in third-party products
• Control4 Certified indicates the partner’s products employ plug-and-play technology with two-way drivers
• Control4 Compatible shows the product is compatible with Control4 through IR connectivity.

Marvell Introduces Plug Computing
At Mobile World Congress, Marvell showed a Plug Computer small enough to plug directly into a wall socket, designed to draw so little power that it can be left on all of the time. Unlike other embedded devices in the home, it contains a GHertz class processor.

“There is no doubt that home networks need to become more intelligent and easier to use by offering value added services for the consumer,” says Dr. Simon Milner, VP/GM Enterprise Business Unit, Consumer and Communications Business Group at Marvell Semiconductor.

The SheevaPlug development platform uses a Marvell Kirkwood processor based on an embedded 1.2GHz Sheeva CPU equipped with 512 Mbytes of FLASH and 512 Mbytes of DRAM.

Connection to the home network is via Gigabit Ethernet. Peripherals such as direct attached storage can be connected using a USB 2.0 port. Multiple standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions are supported on the SheevaPlug development platform enabling rapid application development. The enclosure is designed to plug directly into a standard wall socket and is designed to draw less than one tenth of the power of a typical PC being used as a home server.

“Plug computing is a logical evolution for the digital home in the same way enterprise applications moved from servers to network appliances,” says Hajime Nakai, Director, Member of the Board, Buffalo. “Marvell is probably the only company that can pack so much processor performance into such a compact form factor.”

Go Sheeva Plug

Pioneer: Stores, Yes. Flat Panels, No.
Despite recognition for Kuro, Pioneer will exit from the flat-panel TV business (and they will also cut 10,000 jobs worldwide).

Its fifth straight year in loss, Pioneer faces a forecasted loss of $1.4 billion. Yet Pioneer Electronics recently opened its second U.S. retail store, a 3200 square-foot location in Phoenix, Arizona. The company’s first retail store opened in California’s Orange County, in Q3 2006. This highlights the importance vendors give to their retail efforts.

Go Pioneer Pulls Out of Displays