It's hard to say if ultra-wideband (UWB) will catch on (or get squashed by WHDI) in the wireless HD realm, but the applications for UWB outside of your living room are still many. Researchers at Virginia Tech have reportedly "developed an efficient compact ultra-wideband antenna (CUA) for a range of home, automotive, medical, and military applications," and according to inventory Taeyoung Yang, it has "achieved a near optimal performance for size and bandwidth." Better still, the design is said to be "cheap and simple to produce," which makes us hopeful for embedded wireless devices (receivers, STBs, Blu-ray players, etc.) sooner rather than later. We can't say for sure if this stuff is any closer to taking off in the mainstream, but at least we're making progress somewhere.

While it was Pulse~LINK winning the last (but obviously not final) round of this multi-year tiff, the tables have turned once more. Tzero Technologies has just announced that the US Patent Office "issued an office action rejecting all claims of US patent number 6,970,448 asserted in a lawsuit brought by Pulse~LINK against Tzero in June 2007." This decision, coupled with a stay issued by the district court, will evidently bring the lawsuit to a close "for the foreseeable future." We're told that the legal struggles between the two are now officially over, but we're admittedly hesitant to believe it.

We knew Hitachi's Ultra Thin HDTV family would boast ultra-wideband technology, and while little was said about this aspect during CES, we've now learned that Tzero will be responsible for handling the aforementioned UWB duties. As expected, the UT HDTVs will "be able to receive high-definition video wirelessly from any HDMI equipped audio / video component," as Tzero promises that users will see transmission speeds of up to 480Mbps. Interestingly, we're told that the UWB-equipped sets are available in Japan right now, but only time will tell if those luscious wireless abilities will make the trip stateside in Q2.

While Tzero has been at the forefront of ultra wideband technology for some time, the firm is upping the stakes even higher with its WiMedia-based TZC7200 ZeroWire chipset. The UWB semiconductor solution was designed to deliver "real-time high-definition video" either wirelessly or over cabling, and can even open new doors for "distributing entertainment content throughout the entire home using existing coax." Reportedly, this device can pipe multiple streams of HD video through your average cable network at the tune of 480Mbps, and it boasts application integration including IP, UDP, TCP/IP, multicast, and unicast. Notably, ZeroWire is "comprised of both a Radio Frequency IC (RFIC) as well as a baseband and media access control system-on-chip," and while the chipset is listed is being available immediately, you'll need to contact Tzero yourself to fetch the pricing details.

If you're looking to pick up any UWB device to stream high definition video / audio around your crib anytime soon, chances are it might have a little Taiyo Yuden and Sigma Designs beneath the shell. The two firms are showcasing a WiMedia Alliance-based UWB wireless HD streaming solution here at CES, which highlights "Taiyo Yuden's antenna array on its mini-PCI reference design module with Sigma Designs' Windeo chipset." The unique three-antenna array offered on Yuden's solution supposedly offers up extended range possibilities, and fully supports Sigma's "Intelligent Array Radio" technology. Unfortunately there's no word on any end product uses just yet, nor any expected dates for this newfangled system to hit the mainstream, but with the ginormous pressures being felt around here to get wireless HD streaming out to consumer, we're sure it's pretty high up there on each company's priority list.

Looks like CES 2007 is the place to be for wireless HDMI, as now we've seen offerings from AMIMON, Philips, and Tzero showcasing the ability to stream beautiful 1080p HD sans wires, and now Asus is joining the fold. Apparently basing its self-branded product line on technologies from Tzero and Analog Devices, the admittedly vague press release simply informs us that the company will be fighting tooth and nail in the wireless HDMI over UWB arena, and notes that we'll be seeing "accessory devices and embedded designs that dramatically simplify connections between home audio and video electronic components." Per usual, Asus' box will accept component, composite, S-Video, and HDMI (HDCP-compliant) signals, and the video is then compressed using Analog Devices' ADV202 JPEG2000 video codec, where it's then combined with audio, packetized and encrypted, and transmitted via the Tzero MAC and PHY chip. So until we can mosey on over to see some of this stuff in action, we'll just have to take Asus' word for it, as the company withheld information regarding model numbers, prices, and release dates for the time being.

PulseLink has introduced a solution for combining 1394 (aka FireWire), coaxial ethernet, and Ultra wideband connections and distributing high-definition video throughout the whole home. It combines the wired technologies from the HANA and DLNA specifications, as well as UWB wireless tech for the "last mile" to compatible devices. As the connection between devices can be up to Gigabit speeds, PulseLink claims to be able to stream four 1080p HD signals at the same time, with wireless HDMI connections at the endpoints. The company's chipset will be available to manufacturers this quarter.

Philips has announced its showing off a wireless HDMI product, based on Ultra Wideband at this year's CES. With enough bandwidth to send an uncompressed HD stream of up to 1080p resolution, the company claims its solution solves the problem of arranging components and display devices without affecting the A/V experience. The ultra wideband frequency range should keep it free from interference caused by cell phones, WiFi or microwaves. Oddly, the press release continually refers to the SWW1800 as a "wireless cable", which would likely explain the dearth of available pictures as they try to find a way to photograph it. We'll have to see if we can get a look at it on the CES show floor, but the company expects to debut it in May with an MSRP of $299.

Update: We've got a picture of the wireless adapters from Philips' press conference yesterday, where they were pretty tight lipped about availability, pricing or specifics on the technology, but later issued a press release with two of the three.

In what the WiMedia Alliance calls a "first of its kind demonstration," DaimlerChrysler Research will roll-out a Mercedes-Benz R500 SUV at CES next week all dolled up in Intel's and Alereon's Ultrawideband (UWB) USB technology. The demonstration will pump high-definition video from a handheld mobile device to an array of factory installed headrest monitors for the middle and third row passengers. Great, let's hope they do better that we did with the Belkin's CableFree USB Hub which wasn't quite up to the task of streaming HD with a paltry 6.35Mbps measured. But Belkin's box packs Freescale's flavor of UWB -- this is WiMedia kids, the favored child of the Bluetooth SIG. So let's hope they can demonstrate something a bit closer to the "480Mbps and beyond" transfer speeds they like to boast about. You know, so your kids can someday sit zombied in the backseat watching their videos on a 7.1-inch, 1080p display just as the Good Lorf intended.