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Belkin FlyWire: HDMI goes wireless

By John P. Falcone, CNET.com
11/01/2008




It's a common dilemma: You have the flat-panel TV perfectly placed in the living room or home theater, but the rest of your gear is located halfway across the room. You can snake a long HDMI cable around the perimeter--or you can consider something like the Belkin FlyWire. The transmitter/receiver combo lets you toggle up to six HDMI sources and wirelessly transmit audio and video--up to full 1080p--from one side of the room (your equipment rack) to the other (your big-screen TV or projector). The generous connectivity means even the biggest home theater geek will have the capacity for all of his gear--say, a PS3, Xbox 360 Elite, DVD recorder, HD-DVD player, and a home theater PC. Setup is said to be plug-and-play (the transmitter pairs with the receiver at the touch of a button), and because it's a closed system, it should be universally compatible with any HDMI source and TV. Belkin isn't specifying the range--yet--but hints that the system will work "throughout the home." On the downside, the fact that it's HDMI only means you'll need some sort of analog-to-digital converter for analog only video sources such as the Nintendo Wii (most newer mid- to high-end AV receivers will handle the job). Look for the FlyWire to hit US stores by summer 2008 for US$500 to US$600.

As anybody who's sick of all the of the wires hanging down from their wall-mounted TV can attest, the Belkin FlyWire is certainly a compelling idea. We just hope that the company (and partner Ammion, who's handling the chipset duties) can actually get the thing to stores as promised. Philips showed off a similar wireless HDMI kit last year (albeit with just one input, rather than six), but it has yet to see the light of day.
 
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