Philips And Digital Harmony Join Forces To Create HAVi Audio Solutions For OEMs

Partnership Will Accelerate IEEE 1394 HAVi Product Introductions

29-Jan-01

In a strategic partnership that will accelerate the deployment of interoperable HAVi products based on the IEEE 1394 standard, Philips and Digital Harmony will jointly develop and promote modular solutions for consumer electronics manufacturers. The DHIVAô (Digital Harmony Interface for Video and Audio) OEM home networking adapter, coupled with Philips HAVi controller software will provide significant time-to-market advantage for companies working with HAVi, the consumer electronics interoperability standard. In addition, Digital Harmony and Philips will work together to develop and market HAVi-compliant software, demonstration systems, reference designs and development tools.Under terms of the partnership agreement, Digital Harmony will be allowed to use and sublicense Philips' HAVi core and FAV software stack for use in the Digital Harmony Composerô family of system controller platforms and tools, under license to Philips Digital Networks. In return, Philips will have access to various IEEE 1394 hardware and firmware technologies, under license to Digital Harmony. In addition, Digital Harmony will design a HAVi-enabled version of its industry-first DHIVA-embedded 1394 home networking adapter. The HAVi-enabled OEM module will be used in home entertainment devices such as audio/video receivers, amplifiers, digital televisions, set-top boxes, loudspeakers, DVD players etc.A HAVi proof-of-concept audio demonstration was displayed in Digital Harmonyís suite at CES. The demonstration included Digital Harmony control software utilizing Philips' HAVi core FAV (""full audio/video device"") firmware. The controller manipulates a DHIVA-powered 200-disc CD changer and audio/video receiver system provided by Denon, one of Digital Harmonyís leading consumer electronics partners.Digital Harmony - the first company to ever demonstrate audio on the IEEE 1394 bus - has been developing 1394 technologies since 1995. ""Digital Harmony is currently working with many leading audio companies standardizing on the modular DHIVA architecture. An important objective of our OEM adapter roadmap is to increase functionality through the addition of HAVi support, a key part of the interoperability equation,"" says Greg Bartlett, President and co-founder of Digital Harmony.Philips Consumer Electronics - one of the founders of the HAVi consortium - brings years of interconnectivity and interoperability experience, software expertise, and a product development legacy that will help guide the development of the Philips/Digital Harmony OEM solutions. ""At Philips Digital Networks, we are continuously striving to improve our strong position in networking software by developing first-to-market, superior software solutions - in several cases through partnerships with key technology players in this market,"" said Jos Bruins, General Manager of the Philips Digital Networkís HAVi Home Networking Team. ""Digital Harmony is an ideal partner because of her proven record of professionalism, innovativeness and business relations with many significant players in the high end A/V arena.""""This cooperation between Digital Harmony - with its excellent 1394 products - and Philips will increase the industry momentum for HAVi. The proposed interoperability solutions significantly speed up the deployment of interoperable audio/video products"" said Eddy Odijk, Vice President of Philips Consumer Electronics of Philips and Chairman of the HAVi Organization.For more information about Royal Philips Electronics, visit www.philips.com. For more information about Digital Harmony Technologies, visit www.digitalharmony.com.

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http://www.digitalharmony.com
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