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JULY 5th, 2005
STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) has entered into an agreement with
McubeWorks, Inc. to license the company’s H.264 mobile decoder software for use in its Nomadik mobile multimedia application
processors. The combination of the processor and software is planned to enable cellular phones with a range of new applications
such as video-on- demand, digital multimedia broadcasting and video media. According to Patrice Meilland, Director of Marketing
for Application Processor and Portable Platforms Division at STMicroelectronics, "McubeWorks was one of the first mobile H.264
video decoders on the market and remains among the best. With video capability fast becoming the new feature of choice for
cell phones, ST's broad technology portfolio now gives product designers the best possible hardware and software combination
to rapidly move into the mobile video, camcorder, and videoconferencing markets."
JULY 1st, 2005
Blue7 Communications, founded in 2002, has demonstrated its all CMOS UWB
Windeo chipset. The demonstration provided for uninterrupted wireless MPEG Video Streaming at 106.7 Mbps over a distance of
20 meters. In order to demonstrate the capability to transmit through common obstacles found in the home, the transmitter
and receiver were separated by two walls and a group of people. Applications for the company’s chip set includes DVD
players, Digital Cameras, HDTVs, PDAs and Set Top boxes.
JUNE 28th, 2005
HiSense Develops China’s Color TV Chip – China to Produce Own Chips
for 75 Million Color TVs
As a result of a sustained effort to produce China’s own chips for electronic products
manufactured in China, the HiSense Group announced that its HiView digital media processing chip has passed the authoritative
appraisal organized by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). The chip is planned to be used in the manufacture of digital
high definition televisions. According to An Yongcheng, a senior electronics expert , ''The birth and application of this
chip will terminate the history that the core technique of producing color TV in China has long been monopolized by foreign
countries since China ever began producing color TVs. From now on, the nearly 75 million color TVs produced each year by China
will have their own homemade chips.''
According to the report, which referred to Lou Qinjian, MII Vice
Minister, there are 68 color TV manufacturers in China that have an annual production capacity of 86.6 million televisions.
Hisense is a broad based conglomerate. Its products include air
conditioners, computers, mobile communication devices, and televisions. The company reported 2004 revenue RMB27.300.000.000.
JUNE 17th, 2005
Genoa Color Technologies' Primary Color Technology Secures $5 Million
Genoa Color Technologies has closed a $5 million round of financing led by Vertex Venture Capital.
The company will use the funds to further develop its award winning technology. The company's ColorPeak Multi-Primary Color
television display system was selected by Popular Science in 2004 as the best new home entertainment technology. That system
is based on the company's chips, which increase the color resolution and brightness of displays - effectively increasing the
number of visible colors that can be displayed.
Genoa plans to use the capital to further expand its market in Asia.
Yoram Oron, founder and managing partner of Vertex Venture Capital, commented on the investment and Genoa, "The production
of flat panel displays, especially LCD TVs, is one of the fastest growing industries. We believe that Genoa can become the
market leader in improving the viewing experience of consumers using the new displays. We were impressed by the technical
and commercial achievements of Genoa and its management team."
JUNE 14th, 2005
Samsung Digital TV Mobile Phones Based on Texas Instruments OMAP Processor
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE:TXN) (TI) has reported that Samsung selected its OMPA-DM
multimedia processor for several of its digital TV mobile phone models. The phones have been designed to receive their signals
from either satellites or terrestrial transmitters. The report indicated that Samsung plans to market the phones in Korea,
where digital TV mobile phones have received a warm reception. Presently, Samsung has the new TI based phones on the market
in Korea.
The design of the Digital TV mobile phone may very well represent
a breakthrough in power consumption and display technology. Most viewers want to watch their cell phone TVs for several hours
between a recharge, which requires a processor that has very low power consumption or a powerful cell phone battery. HunBae
Kim, Vice President of Samsung's Research and Development team however emphasized the display quality, "Samsung is committed
to digital innovation, including delivering mobile digital TV to consumers. By adopting TI's high-performance multimedia processor
technology, Samsung can also ensure it brings crystal clear television to the mobile phone for the best viewing experience
possible in the palm of your hand."
JUNE 7th, 2005
Microtune and DiBcom Enter into Agreement to Develop High Performance Car TV
TV reception in cars has long been a problem. One of the reasons is the car is moving, a situation
that requires Doppler compensation to solve. With a solution to that problem, and a strategy that foresees a demand
for television in automobiles, two fabless companies, MicroTune, Inc. (Nasdaq:TUNE) and DiBcom have entered into an agreement
to develop a reference design for a premium car digital television. The reference design, which is planned to be available
in August of 2005, for $1950, is based on DiBcom's chipset, which permits, according to the companies, portable TV reception
everywhere and at almost any speed (greater than 100 mph). DiBcom's chips feature patented technology, which provide for accurate
channel estimation and Doppler compensation, and are compliant with the Digital Video Broadcast standards, DVB-T and DVB-H.
MAY 11th, 2005
Zoran to Acquire Oren for $53.5 Million
- Deal Targeted at Digital TV Market
Zoran Corporation (NASDAQ: ZRAN) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a development
partner, Oren Semiconductor, Inc., another fabless semiconductor company with operations in Israel. Zoran and Oren have worked
together on the development of reference designs for the television market. According to Dr. Levy Gerzberg, President and
CEO of Zoran, "We have worked with Oren for over a year to integrate its products into our platform and deliver a series of
improved solutions for the growing digital television markets. Together we have designed new ATSC/NTSC reference designs that
combine Oren's Cascade demodulator ICs with Zoran's Generation 9 and SupraHD multimedia processors. These platforms deliver
a wide range of optimized solutions for our OEM customers and have already enabled us to secure multiple design wins for products
that we expect to see in the market later this year. The Oren team will join Zoran's DTV division led by Ram Ofir, senior
vice president and general manager. We welcome the Oren team to Zoran."
Avraham Menachem, President and CEO of Oren Semiconductor spoke
about the reduction in design time the companies' platforms offer and the merger, "Our collaboration with Zoran has delivered
a series of turnkey platforms that shorten the design time by reducing the effort needed to finely tune hardware and software
components for each new digital television appliance. We believe that Zoran, as a leading supplier in the digital entertainment
market, is the right company to drive the acceleration to digital television and we are proud to become a part of the Zoran
team."
Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ & TASE:ELRN), which
has a 41% interest in Oren, reports that it will receive proceeds of approximately $19 million from the transaction, once
complete.
MAY 10th, 2005
HDMI Licenses Now Number over 200
HDMI, High-Definition Multimedia Interface, a standard for the connection of high-definition
television, has seen rapid adoption. HDMI Licensing LLC, the licensing agent reports over 200 companies have HDMI licenses.
HDMI Licensing, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Image, Inc., a fabless semiconductor and IP Core company.
MAY 5th, 2005
FOCUS Enhancements, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: FCSE), through its semiconductor
group, has announced plans to sample its ultra wide band (UWB) chipsets in the third quarter of 2005 and modules with the
UWB chipsets later in the year. The company reported that performance expectations for the chipsets are in the range of 880
Megabits per second (Mbps) at 8 meters and 37 Mbps at 40 plus meters. The company has tested the chipset at its Hillsboro
Oregon facility for a networked HDTV application. In that test, the company was able to transmit two HDTV data streams through
the walls, indicating that the technology surpassed other UWB performance metrics. According to Mike Kelly, Vice President
of Marketing at FOCUS Enhancements' Semiconductor Group, "FOCUS has essentially doubled the Institute for Electrical and Electronic
Engineering's (IEEE's) targets of 110 Mbps at a distance of 10 meters. Other solutions fall short when trying to deliver sustained
high-resolution video over longer distances and are not very tolerant of things getting in the way of the signal. We are overcoming
these obstacles -- now with two HD streams through a wall -- and have something that is practical for use by consumers in
the home."
APRIL 29th, 2005
Trident's More than Doubles LCD TV Chip Revenues
Trident Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRID) has reported with its third quarter 2005 results that
its LCD TV revenues had more than doubled. According to Frank Lin, Trident's President and CEO, "Our focus on Tier I account
design win momentum combined with the rapid launch of the SVP-EX has enabled us to grow our LCD-TV revenues by 115% in the
March quarter. Overall, flat panel television revenues grew sequentially by 76% and have grown to become more than 60% of
our business. We currently expect to build on that growth again and add sequential growth in the range of 25-30% in the flat
panel television segment in the June quarter. Although the Digital CRT business in China is down seasonally more than we expected
due to a slower than expected Chinese New Year sell through, we do believe we're holding market share and expect this business
to grow modestly in the June quarter. We expect our two existing Tier I OEM's to continue to ramp production into an expanding
market, and we have added two new Tier I OEM's along with other leading ODM customers who we expect to ramp into production
in the June quarter, so we are now more confident than ever that we will be able to grow overall revenues sequentially by
20-25% in each of the next three calendar quarters."
For the quarter ended March 31, 2005, Trident reported revenues
of $16.1 million compared to the $15.4 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2004 and $13.8 million for the quarter a
year ago. Trident also reports that its clients include four of the top six Tier I LCD-TV OEMs.
APRIL 27th, 2005
Brillian's Completes $2.5 Million Convertible Offering
Brillian Corp. (NASDAQ: BRLC), an OLED microdisplay company and producer of rear projection
HDTVs, obtained $2.5 million through a 7% Convertible Debentures and $2.0 million of 9% Senior Secured Debentures offered
to select investors. Vincent Sollitto, Brillian's CEO indicated that funds would allow the company's traction to continue
and to further its manufacturing capabilities, "Closing this financing round is another positive step in our progress. The
proceeds from this transaction will provide financial support to the momentum we have built in recent weeks with the announcement
of two distribution deals and our manufacturing partnership with Suntron."
APRIL 6th, 2005
MIPS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIPS) in apparent bid to become
the dominate core supplier to the DTV market has announced agreements with four DTV software providers. The agreements, which
revolve around a Java-enabled solution that supports the OCAP and MHP standards are with Esmertec, Skelmir, Vidiom and Zentek.
Russ Bell, Vice President of Marketing at MIPS Technologies commented on the agreements, "We're proud to be the first
in our industry to provide a global Java-based solution that is unmatched for its completeness, interoperability, and optimization
with the two major international standards. Our licensees have developed a superior range of products optimized to the industry
leading MIPS32 and MIPS64 architectures, which will allow our customers to deliver rich functionality over the Java platform.
We're also excited to see that this media functionality is moving into other consumer products, including DVD, PMP, auto entertainment
and cellular phones, that can benefit from our Java-based solutions." MIPS also noted that the company has established license
agreements with all the major suppliers of cable settop silicon products, which includes Scientific Atlanta.
Michael Malcy, VP Marketing for Vidiom Systems Corporation also
noted the significance of MIPS in the DTV market, "The industry worldwide recognizes the MIPS architecture as the de facto
standard for digital audio and video, and we're pleased to be a part of their extensive Ecosystem. The MIPS32 24K family of
cores is ideally suited for the world of digital TV, because they offer the highest performance and configurability among
licensable cores, and enable products which are both cost-effective and feature-rich."
APRIL 5th, 2005
Underscoring ATI Technologies success in the digital television market,
the company announced that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has selected its Xilleon 226 and Theater 313 for use in Samsung's
Digital Light Processing (DLP) HDTVs. Samsung chose the ATI chips for its HLR-4266W, HLR-4677W, HLR-5087W, HLP-5067W, HLR-5067W,
and HLR-5688W high definition television sets.
Daniel Eiref, Director of Marketing, DTV group at ATI Technologies
commented on the design win, "ATI is very proud to deliver market leading HDTV technology with Samsung -- one of the world's
largest consumer electronics manufacturers. Together ATI and SAMSUNG will be able to deliver an exceptional lineup of HDTVs
featuring Xilleon and Theater to customers who will benefit from outstanding HD reception and display."
APRIL 5th, 2005
Siano Mobile Silicon, a fabless semiconductor company based in Israel,
has closed a $11.5 million Series A funding round. The 30 person company , founded in 2004, is developing all CMOS chip designs
for mobile digital television receiver applications. The funding was led by well known Israel hi-tech investing company, Jerusalem
Venture Partners.
Dr. Ulrich Schumacher, a member of Siano's board of directors and
a former CEO of Infineon Technologies, one of Europe's largest semiconductor companies, commented, "The new emerging market
of TV on mobile requires breakthrough solutions that will overcome issues of mobility, power consumption, and physical size,
while minimizing the overhead on the already-sensitive bill of material of handheld devices. Siano has exactly the right technology
and the right team to achieve that in a highly competitive way."
MARCH 30th, 2005
FOCUS Enhancements (NASDAQ:FCSE), a video production and conversion
technology company, has added Tcom&dtvro Co. to its video processor customer list. Tcom has selected FOCUS' FS-454 video
processor for its TD 530 TV-over-IP (IPTV) Set-top Box (STB).
Tom Hamilton, Executive Vice President and General Manager of FOCUS
Enhancements' semiconductor group commented on the design win, "This design win strengthens our lead in the STB arena. It
is also the second STB incorporating the FS-454 video processor to enter production this year. Delivering key design wins
along with growing interest in our chip designs demonstrate the strength of our semiconductor solutions in video processing.
We are optimistic that we will build on this momentum in 2005."
Mike Kelly, Vice President Marketing at FOCUS Enhancements' Semiconductor
Group described its video processor, "The FS-454 is an industry leading digital video encoder and PC-to-video scan converter
that supports High Definition (HD) and Standard Definition (SD) outputs."
Tcom&dtvro Co., Ltd. (Kospi:013240), founded in 1999, is an
IP set top box manufacturing company. The company's IP STB deployments number over 200,000. The company's STB product is geared
for interactive multimedia applications such as Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and IPTV for telecommunication carriers. The TD 530 has
H.264 technology, which permits telcos and Internet service providers to offer streaming video and audio.
MARCH 30th, 2005
Popular Science magazine was so impressed with Color Technology's
palette of colors it gave the company its 2004 best new entertainment technology award. Genoa's technology gives to color,
what Tide detergent did for laundry, brighter brights plus a modern extra, visible display color spectrum expansion. The company
claims that with its chip technology, brights will be 40 percent brighter and visible displays will be 35 percent more visible.
For example, turquoise blue and crimson, often missed with standard TV, will now stand out more like on a movie screen. As
well expect a wider range of colors. Genoa's ColorPeak technology offers one trillion colors compared to the standard TV,
which struggles with 16.7 million. Genoa's technology is based on spatial light modulation techniques. The ASIC chip is targeted
at television, television projection and projector companies.
Genoa has over fifty patents pending. This granted one, U.S. patent
number 6,870,523, describes a system to display four or more primary colors.
FEBRUARY 28th, 2005
Syntax
Group HDTV Based on iDEA SoC
Syntax
Group Corporation, with the launch of its 26 inch Olevia model HDTV-ready LCD TV reported that the television was based on
its iDEA technology, an integrated System-On-a-Chip.
FEBRUARY 15th, 2005
Texas Instruments (TI) reported this week that it has been named as one of
the lead suppliers of digital light processing subsystems. Based on numbers from several market research firms, Texas Instruments
owns about half of the market.
Texas Instruments
provides DLP subsystems for both rear and front projection display systems. Over 75 companies use its DLP technology to manufacture
TVs and projectors. There are over 350 projectors and large screen television models based on TI’s micromachined, micromirror-based
DLP technology. John Van Scoter, Senior Vice President and General Manager of DLP Products at Texas Instruments indicated
that continued strong consumer demand for the company’s DLP products is expected. Since 1996, Texas Instruments has
shipped more than 5 million DLP subsystems – many of which were shipped in the last year. Request
More Information - Specify Company, Product, Etc.
JANUARY 20th, 2005
Silicon
Image Central to LG Electronics and Samsung Consumer Strategy
Silicon Image, Inc. has been selected as the preferred High-Definition
Multimedia Interface (HDMI) supplier for LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics consumer electronics products. Silicon Image
has agreements with the two companies to supply its PanelLink HDMI transmitter and receiver ICs. The chips will be used in
the design of a wide variety of different of devices. These include audio / video receivers, digital televisions (DTVs), digital
video disk (DVD) players, digital video recorders (DVRs), and set-top boxes (STBs), HDMI is a standard used to enable universal
physical (cabling) connectivity between audio and video electronic devices.
JANUARY 18th, 2005
Sigma Designs May Score with MPEG-4
Envivio, which had a 250 percent increase in sales in 2004, demonstrated
with Sigma Designs a chip, which decodes the MPEG-4 data stream. MPEG-4 was declared the compression standard for HDTV pay
TV channels by the French government in December of 2004.
JANUARY 14th, 2005
PC Becomes Living Room Center Piece
ViXS, after recently announcing a long list of new customers for its video network processor chips, has just pulled in another
one. This time its I-O Data Device. I-O, based in Japan, is one of Japan’s leaders in peripherals and PC cards. I-O
intends to use the video processor in an add-on tuner card, which turns a PC into a television set. Because ViXS chip operates
in real time, viewers may just opt for a new PC over a new home theater system. Posted Jan 14, 2005.
JANUARY 11th 2005
Barco Hooks Up With Cradle
Cradle Technologies Inc. and Barco Silix, based in Belgium, will develop a System-On Chip (SOC) and IP designs for the image and video processing markets.
JANUARY 6th, 2005
Video Based Internet Communications In Chip's Future
ViXS
Systems, a video processor and network chipset company, may hold the key to Video Internet Communications. ViXS’ has recently obtained a number of customers and development partners to use and further
develop its silicon and software solutions . These include well know semiconductor
companies, PC companies and consumer electronics companies. ViXS' customers and
technology partners presently include Athena Semiconductors, Cyberlink, Funai Electric, I-O Data, Maxim Integrated Products,
Pixela Corporation, Plextor, Profilo Telra Electronics, Sony Electronics, Taiyo Yuden, Ulead System, Yuan High-Tech Development.
Athena Semiconductor and Maxim are semiconductor companies. Maxim has a development agreement with ViXS.
Silicon and Software Reference
Design For Fully Functional HDTV Flat Panel Television
Oplus Technologies Ltd.,
based in Israel, has announced a silicon and software reference design for flat panel television
and digital display applications. The reference design is built upon Oplus’ display processor chipset and STMicroelectronics’
HD MPEG decoder chip.
JANUARY 7th, 2005
Other News Today
BridgeCo. a digital entertainment networking solutions company, has announced that
Denon uses itss silicon and firmware solution. Denon has incorporated BridgCo’s solution in its Ethernet ready AVR-5805
audio video receiver.
Gennum's GF9350 image processor chip has been integrated into Samsung’s 80 inch Plasma Display Panel.
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