Arkados (OTC BB: AKDS), known as "the HomePlug(R) Applications Company," announces several new products using Arkados semiconductor and software solutions. Together, the new products from Arkados customers devolo AG, Russound, Tatung, MainNet Communications, GigaFast, and Corporate Systems Engineering, embody the extensive range of applications for Arkados powerline technology, including retail consumer electronics, whole-house audio, custom home AV installations, and smart-grid applications.
Arkados is exhibiting these products, along with their own new ArkTIC(TM) Integrated Module at the HomePlug Powerline Technology Conference, held today and tomorrow in Santa Clara, California. Arkados president and CEO Oleg Logvinov is also addressing the attendees in several sessions.
"This show marks the 3rd year of the HomePlug Technology Conference, and the focus is now shifting from simple powerline-to-Ethernet adapters to full-featured application-specific devices that allow consumers to watch videos and listen to music everywhere in the house from variety of sources, including the internet, an iPod(R), or a PC as well as from legacy cable boxes, satellite receivers and stereo systems," said Logvinov. "In the past, we showcased our reference designs and concepts. But at this show, our customers are showcasing innovative products, enabled by the uniqueness of our SoC platform solutions."
The Arkados solutions are featured in the following demonstrations, discussions, and displays:
— devolo AG, the dominant market leader in Europe for PLC solutions uses Arkados chips for their dLAN Audio Extender; a Virtual Audio Driver for Microsoft(R) Windows(R) combined with an Arkados PLC receiver that allows users to play music from their PC, and stream music to any room in their house.
— Russound, the No. 1 name in multi-room audio systems for the professional installation market, utilized Arkados System-on-Chip AI-1100 to offer a HomePlug based iPod dock called the iBridge Dock PLC. The iBridge PLC system is designed to stream music and metadata from an iPod dock, placed anywhere in the house, to Russound’s RNET multi-room audio system. It allows homeowners to view and control the iPod content remotely.
— Tatung, a global consumer electronics manufacturer, is displaying their new Arkados-powered audio transmitter and a receiving unit with embedded audio power amplifiers, which drives Tatung’s hi-fidelity, high-efficiency speakers that can be placed anywhere in the house.
— Corporate Systems Engineering, a pioneer provider of energy management solutions since 1978, is using Arkados solutions for components of a "green power" application that are intended to be used to implement energy-saving programs such as temperature control, smart thermostats, and demand-driven load control.
— MainNet Communications and Arkados are discussing their plans for new HomePlug standard, broadband powerline communication based solutions that will enable easy and seamless access to Internet, music and video over existing electricity grids. Utilities can leverage their core business by offering these broadband communication services as well as save billions of dollars through energy conservation while running power demand management and Smart-Grid applications.
— GigaFast, one the leading HomePlug ODMs, is using Arkados chips for components of a whole-house audio system that consists of audio transmitters that connect to the sound source (cd player, tape deck, MP3 player, etc.), and play synchronized whole-house music to up to four audio receivers.
Additionally, Arkados is displaying its new ArkTIC Integrated Module ("AiM"). This is a system inline package (SiP) which combines the AI-1100 system-on-chip with all the logic circuit and memory necessary to design a multi-media transmitting or receiving device over power line. The integrated module allows companies to design custom HomePlug products with speed and cost efficiency.
"The Arkados AiM allows Tatung and our customers to create multiple products with a single, easy-to-integrated design," said Dr. Alan Pan, Sr. General Manager of Digital Audio Division of Tatung. "It is a unique problem-solver in the marketplace because it contains both HomePlug connectivity, which is easy for consumers to use, and flexible application-layer components, which help product manufacturers create varied and full-featured products that come to market more quickly."
For more about the HomePlug Powerline Technology Conference, see http://2007conference.homeplug.org.
For more information on the types of products that can be built with Arkados solutions, please see http://www.arkados.com/products.html.
