Here comes another of those awesome devices that still wont go over well in the Hi-Fi market.  Lets face it, nobody wants to listen to digitally screwed up music over a Hi-Fi sytem.  So shelling out nearing $900 for a wireless receiver to do just that seems a little silly.  But, if the price was lower, a lot lower, this would be a great little toy.

Introducing the new Chordette Gem from England’s Chord Electronics. The Chordette Gem delivers true high end sound from cell phones, PDAs, PCs and music servers to any hi-fi system - wirelessly or via it’s USB input. The Gem is a derivative of Chord’s new $6,000 ultra high end DAC the QBD76, (center unit next page). The Gem is not as feature rich as the QBD76 but it includes all the same wireless and USB connectivity technology at a consumer friendly $895.

Modern phones, PDAs and personal computers now have the ability to transmit high quality audio using the Bluetooth Advanced Audio Distribution Profile or A2DP for short. Chord engineers worked with the originators of Bluetooth in Finland to design a custom Bluetooth receiver which is able to extract and decrypt the normally unused digital audio signal from any Bluetooth A2DP enabled phone or PDA, or any PC or music server with a USB port, and input this directly into a high quality digital to analog converter.

continued…. (on Market Watch)

source: Market Watch | Chordette

www.marketwatch.com
www.bluebirdmusic.com/chord_gem.htm

Talk about just what we need. I personally am sick of wires all around the apartment. Can’t knock holes in apartment walls and re-wire everything, but I would like a clean looking place. Wireless might be my answer.

SIGMA MAKES WIRELESS HOME THEATER A REALITY WITH NEW
DEVELOPMENT KIT

Demonstrations at CEATEC showcase new Windeo-powered UWB Wireless Home Theater
Audio Development Kit as well as CoAir-powered Ethernet-over-Coax and Wireless HDAV Kits

CEATEC Japan 2008
MILPITAS, Calif. & CHIBA, Japan — Sigma Designs (NASDAQ:SIGM), a leader in digital media processing and wireless system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for consumer electronics today announces the availability of the Wireless Home Theater Audio Development Kit based on the company’s Windeo® Ultra wideband (UWB) chipset. Sigma will be demonstrating the Wireless Home Theater Audio Development Kit along with its new CoAirâ„¢ solution, the industry’s first UWB chipset with combined wireless, coax and Ethernet capabilities, and Wireless HDAVâ„¢ reference designs at CEATEC, September 30 - October 4, in Chiba, Japan. Demonstrations are available by appointment in the Hotel Manhattan, Suite #705.

Developed for Home-Theater-in-a-Box solutions with surround systems, the development kit comes in three combinations: 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 that range over 40 meters LOS (Line-Of-Sight) and 20 meters NLOS (Non-Line-Of-Sight). This solution gives consumer electronics manufacturers the ability to design a reliable wireless Home-Theater-in-a-Box that does not interfere with microwave oven signals, WiFi, Bluetooth, mobile phones or other home appliances. It also once and for all eliminates speaker cabling problems, like too many wires, that consumers are ready to be rid of. (continued…)

http://www.sigmadesigns.com/public/Company/press_releases/080930-1.pdf

http://www.sigmadesigns.com/public/index.html