Wednesday, 31 May 2006

Airgo, Caton Partners to Deliver Wireless Set-Top Box

Maker of Wi-Fi Chips Airgo Networks and has Caton Overseas Ltd. has announced their collaboration on Caton's V2O Wireless Home Media Network, a wireless set-top box.

Integrating state-of-the-art digital tuning, Single-Card-Multi-Channel (SCMC) technology, and network storage technologies, and featuring the STMicroelectronics MPEG decoder platform, Caton's V2O delivers multiple independent digital channels and personal video recording (c) content throughout the consumer's home.

It also serves as centralised storage for consumer media files like MP3s, digital video and digital photos. A core part of the system, Airgo's True MIMO Media, a True MIMO Gen3 technology optimised for multimedia distribution, enables wireless connectivity from the base unit to as many as three client set-top boxes streaming MPEG2 streams.

"Consumers want to be able to watch entertainment wherever and whenever they choose, requiring more of wireless technology," said Greg Raleigh, president and CEO of Airgo Networks.

Caton, the Chinese maker of set-top boxes for satellite and cable TV providers in Asia and Europe, will be releasing its V2O Wireless Home Media Network in two phases, the first of which will begin shipping to customers for satellite digital TV operators in the next few months. In early 2007, Caton will release the V2O Wireless Home Media Network for cable and IPTV installations.