Hasta La Gadget!

We sort of saw the writing on the wall, but now Belkin has went and made it official: the FlyWire is dead. Originally showcased at CES 2008 and at practically every AV-related trade show since, the wireless HD-enabling FlyWire was seen as the poster child for wireless HD / HDMI by many, and the death of this product certainly doesn’t bode well for the technology as a whole. It’s true that AMIMON — the wireless startup responsible for the WHDI technology within the FlyWire and a few other devices — just landed an extra $10 million in VC funding, but still, we’ve literally been waiting years for this so-called “promising technology” to get a foothold in the market. Or even make a wave, really.

As has become customary these days, Belkin is also pinning the cancellation of the FlyWire on the economy, with a spokesperson telling us that the “retail price of $1,499 would be out of line given the current state of the economy.” She continued by stating that the company has “opted to halt production of FlyWire” and “will no longer be introducing [it] to the market.” Granted, the company does seem somewhat apologetic, concluding that “there will be some disappointed folks out there, but [Belkin’s] end goal is to introduce products that are accessible and that make sense in the current environment.”

Frankly, we’re not buying it. In April, Belkin affirmed to us that while AMIMON’s WDHI technology was “solid,” it was taking its sweet time in order to “pay very close attention to the user experience, such as the packaging, setup, and the quick install guide.” We could be way off base here, but we’d say the economy was sucking quite a bit harder in April than it is today. And honestly, that’s beside the point. A $1,500 device that enabled a Blu-ray player to communicate wirelessly with an HDTV is obviously a luxury item, and regardless of unemployment numbers, Belkin had to know that the FlyWire would only appeal to upscale consumers. You know, the same folks who also put in an order for a Ferrari California in 1H 2009 while their hedge fund dived.

To us, the sudden death of the FlyWire is more of an industry signal than anything. For quite some while, we’ve been wondering when the industry at large would embrace wireless HD and HDMI technology, and now we’re beginning to think that said embrace will never happen in any significant capacity. Even Wireless USB couldn’t cut it, and we’re guessing there are an awful lot more USB users out there than HDMI. If the price dropped dramatically and the sector consolidated a bit in order to agree on a single standard, we’d say wireless HD / HDMI has a fighting chance. ‘Til that happens, you can pretty much bank on the FlyWire fiasco becoming a model for the rest. Belkin’s statement in full is past the break.

Continue reading Belkin kills the FlyWire — does wireless HD / HDMI even have a chance?

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless

Belkin kills the FlyWire — does wireless HD / HDMI even have a chance? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a Plantronics Savi Office on offer. Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!

Big thanks to Plantronics! for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) Plantronics Savi Office.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Monday, July 13th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Announcements

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a Plantronics Savi Office Convertible! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 keyboard and mouse up for grabs. Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!

Big thanks to Microsoft for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 keyboard and one (1) mouse. Approximate retail value is $69.95.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Tuesday, July 7th, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Announcements

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff or companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a Transformers Bumblebee Nintendo DS Starter Kit, which includes a protective Nintendo DS Lite Armor sleeve and universal stylus. We’ll also be throwing in a Megatron strylus just for fun! Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Hooray for free stuff!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) Transformers Nintendo DS Lite Starter Kit and one (1) Megatron stylus.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Friday, July, 3rd, at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Filed under: Announcements

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a Transformers Nintendo DS Lite Armor case and stylus! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a boomin’ VTech IS9181 internet radio on offer, ready to stream jams from the world wide web when not playing back your MP3 collection. Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Check after the break for some photos of the prize!

Special thanks to VTech for providing the gear!

The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one (1) VTech IS9181 WiFi radio. Approximate retail value is $199.99.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Wednesday, July 1st, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a VTech IS9181 WiFi radio originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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