Gefen's silver coated WHDI towers may have taken a little longer than expected to get here, but for $899 they might do wireless HD streaming differently enough to arouse your interests. Using Amimon's 5 Ghz tech, it can switch from one to one streaming with HDCP for tossing Blu-ray or upconverted DVDs around, or switch over to broadcast mode, supporting up to 5 remote receivers getting the same video stream, albeit without HDCP. Maximum range is 100 feet line-of-sight and it supports resolution up to 1080p30 with Dolby 5.1 surround audio, that enough to get your credit card out? Picture of the back is after the break, specs beyond the read link.

Industry watchers In-Stat didn't mention which variant of WiFi based HD streaming it expects to win out, but just based on the install base 802.11n should be the leader. UWB? DOA. WHDI and WirelessHD? Too expensive, too power hungry, too new. WiFi isn't perfect however, requiring codec support on either end to work with HD video but that's not expected to hold back the 25 million TVs with wireless hardware In-Stat sees shipping by 2013, but for the rest of the details you'll need $3,495 for the research report or a time machine.

[Via TG Daily]

AMIMON, the company behind the wireless HD technology (WHDI) in Belkin's FlyWire (among other devices), has just introduced its second-generation chipset. The device, which utilizes video modem technology operating in the 5GHz unlicensed band, consists of the new AMN 2120 transmitter and AMN 2220 receiver, both of which are angling to slip into set-top-boxes, HDTVs and all sorts of other HDMI-enabled devices in short order. AMIMON asserts that this chipset is the first capable of "delivering full uncompressed 1080p/60Hz HD content throughout the entire home," with a range of beyond 100 feet through walls, under one millisecond of latency and support for HDCP 2.0. Best of all, the new kit is available now for manufacturers to snap up, so for the legions of consumers waiting for someone to get wireless HD right, let us say this: "get to snapping." The full release is after the break.

With no picture to show for it, unfortunately (that's the 8 series, pictured), Samsung's gone ahead and announced the 46-inch and 55-inch B9000 HDTVs, which looks to be a follow-up to the A950 models from last year. According to flatpanelshd, the latest addition to the Touch of Color series include LED backlights with localized dimming, Medi@2.0 with YouTube / Yahoo! widgets, built-in USB port, DLNA functionality, built-in DVB-T and DVB-C tuners, and most interesting, a wireless connection to an external media box that's reportedly similar to Sony's ZX1 -- no word on whether or not that means it's using WHDI. As for the other details, including pricing and availability, you're gonna have to keep waiting, we're afraid.

And you wonder why people refuse to take wireless HD / HDMI seriously. A full 15 months after Belkin's FlyWire was introduced at CES 2008, the world is still waiting for it to ship. When launched, it promised the consumer world a device that would take multiple HDMI devices and stream them (one at a time, obviously) to your HDTV sans wires. The box itself relies on AMIMON's WHDI technology, and while we've seen with our own eyes just how marvelous it works, Earthlings won't be able to purchase one until -- drumroll, please -- August 2009. According to a Belkin PR manager that we spoke with on the matter, the January 2009 ship date has now slipped to late summer for the US market, though the altogether painful $1,499 price tag remains firmly in tact. So, what's the over / under on Belkin actually keeping its word this go 'round?

Update: Contrary to some reports, the delay is absolutely not related to WHDI. Belkin's own PR team has confirmed that the hold-up is in no way related to WHDI, but that it is "paying very close attention to the user experience." In other words, it's delaying things to get things totally right, and for $1,500, we'd expect nothing less than perfection.

Slowly but surely, AMIMON is establishing itself as a serious player in the wireless HD space. Right before our eyes, the outfit has announced that it's playing a major role in the world's first HD wireless display designed specifically for use in the operating room. Stryker Endoscopy's WiSe HDTV is embedded with AMIMON's WHDI technology, though few details beyond that are being disclosed. We've no idea if this is just the beginning of AMIMON's domination of the OR, but it's certainly a good start. Here's hoping we see some similar announcements in the consumer space at CES -- it's about time some of these wireless HD doodads stopped looking pretty and started shipping out.

ABI Research definitely put its thinking cap on for this one, as it recently found that wireless HDTV vendors are still pouring cash into products, yet few are available for consumption in North America. It's a trend we've watched develop, and we cringe to think that it's not getting better. Chances are we'll see a new wave of cord-free HD products at CES 2009, all while we wait patiently for cord-free wares from CES 2008 to make it out of the testing phase. Sadly, the report doesn't actually mention anything we didn't already know -- companies are still out there trying to prove their format is superior, all while actual manufacturers dillydally around and miss one opportunity after another. And really, with prices like $1,499 for the Belkin FlyWire, we wonder if there's any mass market appeal even if the shipments do begin to flow.

A full year after we expected wireless HD to really take off, we're barely in a position different than the one we started in. If we can point to any initiative in particular that has grown legs over the course of 2008, it'd be AMIMON's WHDI. Today, the company has shipped its 100,000th Wireless High-Definition (WHDI) chipset, a milestone that's pretty impressive given the general ignorance of wireless HDTVs in the consumer space. As of now, these chipsets are shipping in ultrathin LCD TVs by top-tier brands (think Sony, Mitsubishi and Sharp), and they're also finding their way into Wireless HDTV dongles that bring cordless freedom to older sets. AMIMON is hoping to see quite a few more WHDI-enabled HDTVs ship to America in 2009 -- we have all ideas the introductions at CES will be a good gauge of how ready manufacturers are to agree. Full release after the break.

We already had a good idea that Sony's non-US-bound BRAVIA ZX-1 would come packin' AMIMON's WHDI wireless technology, and now that fact is all but confirmed. The ultrathin LCD HDTV, which is set to go on sale in Japan November 10th, will be relying on AMIMON's wireless standard and not the quickly fading UWB. According to EETimes, Yoav Nissan-Cohen (chairman and CEO of AMIMON) refused to deny that WHDI was in the set when asked, and while a Sony spokesperson also declined to confirm, his description of the technology pointed at one protocol alone. Ultra-wideband, we'd recommend a serious push for adoption right about now, else WHDI just might claim what's yours in the near future.

You've got to be kidding us. No, seriously -- this has to be a joke. Just last month, we witnessed in person a FlyWire unit beaming a 1080p Blu-ray signal wirelessly to an HDTV, and the results were nothing short of astonishing. For whatever reason, the box -- which was officially unveiled back at CES 2008 -- won't even be ready for next year's Vegas extravaganza. While we were told at CEDIA that the unit would begin shipping out in October (like, right now), Melody Chalaban, a marketing executive and spokeswoman for Belkin has informed Electronic House that it "won't be able to make [its] anticipated deadline of the winter CES show." Unfortunately, she gave no indication of when it actually would ship, leaving us to wonder if the dawn of the wireless HD era is being pushed back altogether. Again.

Update: Melody herself contacted us to clarify a bit and provide some guidance for release. According to her, the FlyWire is being delayed due to "compliance issues, and it will be available late January 2009."

After last night's discovery that Gefen was proudly supporting both Tzero's UWB technology and AMIMON's WHDI alternative, we just had to stop by and see if it was true. After chatting it up with a company representative, we discovered that Gefen is indeed introducing two new wireless HD products, each of which uses a separate technology. The Wireless for HDMI Extender (UWB) was seen sporting a black outfit, and we were told that it'll ship in about a fortnight for $800; the WHDI-based GefenTV (that's the pair in silver) will begin shipping "later this year" for around a grand. When directly asked if Gefen had any plans to choose one protocol over the other, the rep simply stated that Gefen would be riding things out and supporting both until one took over.

With Belkin's FlyWire just about to hit the market, JVC's planning to ride the wave and produce a wireless HDMI box of its very own. The unit was said to be a last minute addition to its CEDIA arsenal, and the representatives on hand weren't even briefed on what wireless technology the demo was using. Of note, there was a live demo involving no smoke nor mirrors, where the box received a 1080p signal via HDMI and beamed it out to a hidden receiver that was connected to an HDTV via (you guessed it) HDMI. JVC is obviously aiming for consumers with just one primary set-top-box (a PS3, for instance), and the plug-and-play nature means it can work with any source and any display so long as HDMI is involved. Pricing hasn't been set, but we were told to expect a Q1 2009 launch. Check out the prototype in the gallery below.

Belkin has been dangling its FlyWire wireless HD box for, what, ever now? Thankfully, it seems that all the kinks have been worked out, and the October ship date should actually stick. A few tidbits we learned while hanging out at the outfit's CEDIA booth: first, we confirmed that the technology within the device is AMIMON's, so we're guessing it's WHDI. Secondly, we heard that the retail price of the top-end AV69003 may scoot up to $1,499 when it's finally released. We know, that's a lot of coin to make your components cord-free, but the demonstration showing off Blu-ray streaming through thin air was nothing short of astounding. No hiccups, no jaggies, no hints whatsoever that there wasn't a direct HDMI connection. Check the box (and the receiver) out in the flesh below.

For awhile now, ultra-wideband (UWB) has been on the way down in terms of popularity, and all the while, AMIMON's WHDI technology has been racking up an unprecedented amount of support. At this year's CEDIA conference, we've got adapter manufacturer Gefen backing both sides by introducing separate wireless HD solutions built around Tzero's UWB tech and the aforesaid WHDI. It's hard to say if both of these formats will continue to be supported (though if we had to guess, we'd say WHDI has the upper hand), but at least for now, Gefen's playing it safe rather than casting a vote. We've a term in Washington for your kind, Gefen, and that term is fencesitter.

Read - Gefen supports WHDI!
Read - But wait, Gefen supports UWB!