CEDIA-Press Release-Eleven Engineering

CEDIA-Press Release-Eleven Engineering
Eleven Engineering and Texas Instruments: New HT-303 Wireless Audio Module Enables new Growth in the Global
Home Theater Market
Denver, Colorado, CEDIA– Sept 2, 2008 – Eleven Engineering Inc., a global leader in digital wireless audio has recently announced the release of its new HT-303 module solution specifically designed for TV and home theater applications. Eleven has combined its proven XInC2 wireless processor IP with Low-Power RF technology from Texas Instruments to create a module which may be the catalyst needed to dramatically improve the industry’s lackluster attachment rate of home theater systems to TVs.In recent years the price of flat screen TV’s has dropped, making them an affordable purchase for many consumers. The attachment rate of home theater systems however, has remained very low—around 10%, and that’s over the whole life of the TV. The attachment rate on the TV purchase date is less than 3% industry wide.
The low attachment rate is driven by a number of factors. Home theater sales have been under a lot of negative pressure
because of visible clutter. The wireless solutions to solve wiring problems have had limited success due to the fact many of
them have been aftermarket “afterthoughts” that the consumer regards as additional unwanted complexity.

“Consumers have a lot of fear related to purchasing aftermarket upgrades—especially if the aftermarket item is from a brand
different than the original equipment. There is real fear that an after-market wireless system will not be compatible or work as
advertised. Eleven is excited that our customers designing the HT-303 into their TVs are seeing it as the key technology that
will break the 10% attachment rate barrier. Our customers are using the HT-303’s wireless 2.1 capabilities to glue the 5.1
home theater system and the TV together. The three front channels of audio are taken care of by the TV (wired) up front, while
the HT-303 solution provides a perfectly clean wireless hop to the 3 remaining channels in the back of the room (L and R
surrounds, plus the subwoofer). Integration brings simplicity—and it’s well known that home theater systems of the past have
suffered in popularity due to the shear complexity of setup.”, says Eleven CEO, John Sobota.
The HT-303 enables three key enhancements: firstly, the combining of TV and home theater using built-in technology rather
than aftermarket technology, secondly, the removal of much of the clutter usually associated with home theater and thirdly,
removal of most of the complexity of setup. Sobota continues, “these three key enhancements significantly boost consumer
confidence, removing key reasons that have caused customers to shy away from buying home theater systems. Knowing that
you can take your TV and bundled home theater system home and set them up cleanly and simply removes consumer fear—
this approach has the potential to increase the home theater system-to-TV attachment rate from 10% to possibly beyond 50%
over time.”

In developing the new modules, Eleven has continued to leverage its strategic partnership with Texas Instruments. “Eleven is
fully leveraging our 2.4GHz RF transceiver and integrated PA/LNA/Balun range extender to provide modules which are
strong enough to transmit through heavy RF traffic without interruption, yet polite enough to avoid interfering with other 2.4GHz
devices in the home”, says Laurent Giai-Miniet, general manager for TI’s low-power RF products. “The balance between
quality of service and coexistence is paramount in new wireless products, as consumers expect nothing short of flawless
audio quality, but are not willing to put up with performance degradation of their current wireless products such as phones and
routers.”

Eleven Engineering is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in wireless baseband processors and digital wireless
audio modules. Leveraging the multithreaded technology of its XInC™ family of wireless processors, Eleven has become a
global leader in digital wireless audio. Eleven’s product line of digital wireless audio modules ship in the WHAM form factor
which is small and highly integrated to provide designers, developers, and manufacturers with drop-in solutions for a wide
range of wireless audio applications. Eleven’s products employ Eleven’s WFD (Walking Frequency Diversity) protocol to
deliver superior audio quality of service (QoS), in both the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz band. Eleven also offers evaluation kits,
development kits, reference designs, and engineering services to facilitate easy integration and reduce time to market. More
information about Eleven and how to incorporate Eleven’s wireless solutions is available at
http://www.ElevenEngineering.com.

To download the HT-303 information sheet:
http://www.elevenengineering.com/doc…/IS/DO9010.pdf

For more information, contact:

Karina Sanjevic
Eleven Engineering Inc.
+1 (780) 425-6511 x 240
[email protected]
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