Haier Corp. and Freescale Semiconductor achieved a critical milestone for wireless home entertainment systems and showcased the first Ultra-Wideband (UWB)-enabled LCD, high definition television (HDTV) and digital media server at the Freescale Technology Forum.

Leveraging UWB, Freescale Chairman and CEO Michel Mayer and Haier Executive Vice President Shariff Kan broadcast high-definition video and audio streams wirelessly from a digital media server to Haier's 37-in. HDTV located across the stage.

"Freescale's Ultra-Wideband solution provides the wireless experience our customers desire," said Yu Zi Da, vice president of Haier. "UWB gives consumers the freedom to place the television anywhere they would like in the room, without requiring a physical connection to a set-top box, digital video recorder or media server. We have worked closely with Freescale over the past two years on integrating UWB, and look forward to continuing this collaboration with a variety of consumer products."

Haier, one of the largest Chinese consumer electronics manufacturers, will package the digital media server and HDTV in a complete wireless solution and make it available to Chinese consumers later this year and to U.S. consumers by 2006.

Freescale's UWB technology is capable of transferring multiple high definition (HD) or MPEG2 movie streams—up to 110 Mbps—at distances up to 20 m (65 ft), enabling significant freedom in the placement of home theater equipment. Current wireless video solutions do not have the bandwidth to accommodate HD or MPEG2 streams, which require a minimum of 20 Mbps each. According to Freescale, current Wi-Fi solutions are only capable of broadcasting standard definition (SD) video streams at 5 Mbps to 7 Mbps.

The television and digital media server are expected to be available in retail outlets in the fourth quarter of 2005 throughout China. Although approved for use in the United States, Haier initially is targeting this product for the Chinese market, leveraging a regulatory license granted by the Chinese government. Haier currently is developing UWB-enabled products for distribution in other regions, including the United States, in 2006.

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