Another wireless HDMI casualty: Belkin cancels FlyWire
Goodbye, FlyWire: The now-cancelled product will never see store shelves.
(Credit: Belkin)Belkin will not be releasing its FlyWire wireless HDMI accessory.
CNET has learned that the company has decided not to offer the FlyWire for sale. A Belkin spokesperson confirmed the product's cancellation, saying that "its retail price of $1,499 would be out of line given the current state of the economy."
The FlyWire was introduced at CES 2008. The unit was a transmitter/receiver combo: the transmitter toggled between multiple audio and video sources (HDMI and analog), which were then wirelessly beamed to a receiver. Since the tiny receiver required only AC power and utilized a single HDMI output, it could be stealthily mounted behind wall-mounted flat screens or ceiling mounted projectors, eliminating the need for long unsightly cable runs. At one point, Belkin was mulling two versions: an initial high-end, multiroom-capable $1,499 version for multiple AV sources, followed by a less pricey single-source transmitter.
Early demos of the FlyWire impressed us--enough that we nominated it as a finalist in the Home Video category for Best of CES 2008. (It was edged out by the Dish Network DTVPal DVR.) But the FlyWire's premature death is just another indication that wireless HDMI technology is all but stillborn at the consumer level. Other notable no-shows, at least so far: the Philips wireless HDMI kit (introduced January 2007) and the Monster Express HD System (announced summer 2008).
So, where does that leave consumers looking for wireless HDMI options? The Gefen's EXT-HDMI and Sony DMX-WL1 Bravia Wireless Link remain the only mainstream wireless HDMI solutions available to consumers. The Gefen costs between $700 and $1,000, while the Sony can be had for under $500--pricey, to be sure, but not unreasonable when compared to the cost of hiring a custom installer to bury cables behind your walls.
The Gefen product utilizes ultrawideband (UWB) technology from a company called TZero; the latter company filed for bankruptcy soon after the product shipped. The Belkin utilized a rival technology from Amimon, which has been making headway with a standard dubbed WHDI. But standards--especially ones that hope to offer interdevice support from multiple manufacturers--take time.
In other words, we're all but certain to see more wireless HDMI announcements in the coming months and years. But a wider array of products--especially ones that are affordable--still look to be a long way off.
Additional reading:
Where is wireless HDMI?
Wireless HDMI: Three ways to cut the cord
John P. Falcone covers home theater and network entertainment products. He's been writing for CNET since 2002. 
******* thats more then the TV it's self...
And while $1500 is expensive, they surely weren't marketing it to people buying the $999 special at Best Buy...anyone doing that is buying generic $10 cables and running them along the wall.
It's obviously going to start as a premium product, so for it to sell for ~$500 would probably be reasonable.
A switching wireless HDMI sender receiver that works in HD for $150? Just running all the cables you are replacing would cost more than that.
So, when somebody can sell fully-functional HDMI cables in the $7-15 ballpark, how on earth can a switching device for the format possibly cost $1500? I know that can't possibly be due to royalties (if it is, our patent system is beyond all hope). The $150 price point would be much more realistic, although still ridiculous in my book.
Oh well, my TV has 3 HDMI ports, and it's just enough for what I need - DirecTV HD-DVR, media center PC, and PS3 for Blu-Ray.
I'm with you on the inexpensive cables, though. If the inexpensive cables can handle 1080P with "Deep Color" and the like (which they do), there is no reason for most cables to cost what they do let alone the other accessories.
It's one thing to build something in one's basement for themselves. It's entirely another thing to want to build something for sale to the mass market...and actually trying to make some profit at the same time.
then, it has to make profit on top of everything else.
just remember, there are a lot of cool technology never see the light of day not b/c it's technologically impossible but economically impossible.
just imagine HOLOGRAM or CLONING technology.
yes, we can make it happen..... but, is society willing to pay the price?
you must have missed OBAMA election night.
CNN was the first to use Hologram via LIVE broadcast.
The 'hologram' you saw on election night was just a multi-camera trick, not an actual hologram:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/11/05/tech-holograms.html
"The CNN anchors were not really speaking to three-dimensional projected images, but rather empty space, Kreuzer said. The images were simply added to what viewers saw on their screens at home, in much the same way computer-generated special effects are added to movies."
just check your debit or credit card.
there's a hologram on the card.
check the new U.S. Passport.
it has hologram as well.
Those foils on the card are not holograms.
Holograms is a 3d light object formed in the air. These have been proven to be impossible because laws of physics.
noun
a three-dimensional image formed by the interference of light beams from a laser or other coherent light source.
? a photograph of an interference pattern that, when suitably illuminated, produces a three-dimensional image.
With that dictionary definition, how many of us are expecting "holograms" to be something like what you'd encounter on the holodeck of the Enterprise? I swear I saw holograms at Disneyland (they were ghosts, I think it was the Haunted House?) when I was a child and that was DECADES ago.
Do you mind seeing plumbing fixtures in your house? What about lugnuts on car wheels? Or that string hanging from the attic stairs? Do you hide that support pipe or the cords hanging from your ceiling fan?
Why not flush mount all your artwork and hide those unsightly picture frames. And let's not stop there, let's kill the door knobs and all that grotesque hardware and hinge bits that our eyes are forced to endure. Yeah, we can call it the iPort instead of a door. That makes it much better, yeah.....
I guess it is the iEgo that will fix the economy after all. Gotta have everything sleek and clean.
All these people that want everything behind the walls deserve the price they have to pay in money, labor and maintenance.
Of course anything can be carred too far, including the "clean" look. But to claim it's all just an "aesthetic fetish" is silly.
- by ThatDuckGuy July 19, 2009 10:42 AM PDT
- Good they cut their losses now. Smart move I believe.
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