The quest for connectivity continues to drive Consumer Electronics (CE) manufacturers to enable their products with Wi-Fi technology. The next 5 years will see an increase in the number of Wi-Fi-enabled devices, from over 500 million in 2009 to nearly 2 billion in 2014, according to In-Stat. Devices leading the pace of adoption include Blu-ray players/recorders, e-readers, and digital televisions.
 
Some of the research findings include:

• Mobile devices with Wi-Fi will still dominate shipments.  In 2013, shipments of mobile phones with embedded Wi-Fi are projected to exceed ¾ of a billion units.
• E-readers Wi-Fi attach rates will increase from 3% in 2009 to 88% by 2014. 
• 29 million digital picture frames will be shipped in 2014; 53% will be Wi-Fi-enabled.

Specifically, this research provides a five-year forecast for Wi-Fi CE devices, and CE device shipments and Wi-Fi attach rates, segmented for: 
Gaming Consoles 
DTVs
Set-Top Boxes
Personal Video Recorders
DVD and Blu-ray Players 
Media Adapters 
Printers 
Multifunction Peripherals 
Handheld Games 
PMPs
Digital Cameras 
Portable Camcorders and IP Network Cameras
PDAs
Mobile PCs 
Portable CE Devices 
Cellular Handsets 
Routers, Residential Gateways, and Standalone Access Points

DSP Group will show their CAT-is solutions on their booth, and the will present about CAT-iq and the different business models for operators / telco's.

About DSP Group
DSP Group is a leading global provider of wireless chipset solutions for converged communications at home. Delivering system solutions that combine semiconductors and software with reference designs, DSP Group enables consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers and service providers to cost-effectively develop innovative revenue-generating applications with fast time to market.
 
At the forefront of wireless semiconductor innovation and operational excellence for over two decades, DSP Group provides a broad portfolio of wireless chipsets integrating DECT, Wi-Fi, PSTN and VoIP technologies with state-of-the-art application processors. With a growing share of the wireless home telephony market, the Company provides comprehensive solutions supporting all major digital cordless technologies worldwide.

DSP Group serves a broad customer base including leading CE brands, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original design manufacturers (ODMs), telecommunications operators and service providers. Enabling converged voice, audio, video and data connectivity across diverse consumer products – from cordless and VoIP phones to home gateways and connected multimedia screens – DSP Group proactively partners with CE manufacturers to shape the future of converged communications at home.
 
Solutions & Products
DSP Group delivers a comprehensive portfolio of proven system solutions and products that reduce customers’ development risk, costs and cycles. Our innovative offerings enable CE manufacturers to develop differentiated revenue-generating applications in three main areas:

• Connected Multimedia Screens: Enabling the rapid development of always-on home multimedia devices such as multimedia handsets and infotainment centers, DSP Group offers the XpandR™family of multimedia chipset solutions.
• Home & VoIP Solutions: DSP Group's comprehensive solution for VoIP home and office products, including VoIP phones, home PBXs with DECT access points, and home gateways, is anchored by the XciteR chipset family.
• Digital Cordless Solutions: As the worldwide market leader in DECT and next-generation CAT-iq cordless technology, DSP Group offers the XceedR family of cordless chipsets, which supports cordless phones, cordless headsets and home monitoring/automation devices.

Customers
DSP Group is a flexible customer-centric company that proactively partners with our broad CE manufacturer customer base as well as service providers. Based on a deep understanding of market needs, we encourage customer involvement in our roadmap development, and provide customer access to our internal R&D resources. A reliable long-term industry supplier, DSP Group maintains a proven track record of operational excellence and successful delivery. With over 10 offices across Asia, Europe and North America, we deliver outstanding local service and support worldwide.

Our blue-chip customer base features leading international CE manufacturers, including the world's top consumer brands, which have deployed our chipset solutions at prominent tier-one telecom operators across the globe.

Wi-Fi is becoming a must-have feature across a range of devices, as network connectivity migrates into the living room, reports In-Stat.  Digital televisions, Blu-ray players, and portable media players (PMPs) are among the leading categories in terms of total volume and growth.  Shipments of digital televisions with Wi-Fi will grow more than ten-fold, from under 5 million units in 2009, to more than 60 million units in 2014.  Driving this shift is both unit growth of the digital TVs, as well as Wi-Fi attach rates that increase from just 4% in 2009 to 33% in 2014.  Across all stationary consumer electronics, which includes set top boxes, game consoles, Blu-ray players, digital picture frames, among other devices, Wi-Fi-enabled devices will exceed 200 million units by 2014.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Mobile handsets will remain the highest volume Wi-Fi-enabled device throughout the forecast period.

• Internet Tablets with Wi-Fi, including Apple’s IPad, will grow to nearly 50 million unit shipments by 2014.

• The Wi-Fi device Total Available Market (TAM) will exceed 3 billion unit shipments by 2013.

The research, Wi-Fi in Consumer Electronics: New Devices Discover Wi-Fi, covers the global market for CE devices with Wi-Fi. This research provides:

Five-year forecast for Wi-Fi CE devices
CE device shipments and Wi-Fi attach rates, segmented for:
Gaming Consoles
Digital TVs (DTVs)
Set-Top Boxes (STBs)
Personal Video Recorders (PVRs)
VD Players (includes Blu-ray)
Media Adapters
Printers
Multifunction peripherals
Handheld Games
Portable Media Players (PMPs)
Digital Cameras
Digital Video Cameras (portable camcorders and IP network cameras)
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)
Mobile PCs
Portable CE Devices
Cellular Handsets
WLAN Routers
Residential Gateways
Standalone Access Points
External Clients

Most consumer electronics (CE) device manufacturers are introducing software platforms that support widgets—also called TV applications—reports In-Stat. This sets the stage for a burgeoning new market and alters how people will access Internet content—from news, web-surfing and purchasing to watching Netflix movies and YouTube.

By 2013 In-Stat expects that TV applications have the potential to generate over $1.7 billion in annual revenue. Currently consumers already have a moderate interest in TV Widgets. An innovative web-enabled CE device and service from a company like Google or Apple could truly galvanize the market, much as the iPhone transformed the mobile telephony market.

TV applications are small, self-contained software programs that can be plugged into a web application to access a wide range of content. Due to their broad scope, TV apps are rapidly becoming a ubiquitous product requirement for nearly all web-enabled CE devices.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• US shipments of web-enabled CE devices that support TV applications will grow from 14.6 million in 2010 to 83.4 million by 2014.
• By 2014, over 59 million US broadband households will own at least one CE device that supports TV applications. 
• By 2014, the US installed base of CE devices that support TV applications will be 136 million units.

The Florida-based company L5 Technology has announced the upcoming availability of a hardware add-on that turns any iPhone or iPod Touch into a universal remote for your home entertainment devices.

The system, dubbed the L5 Remote is made up of a tiny 1.5 by .85-inch infrared transceiver that hooks up to the dock connector of the iPhone and an app that provides the necessary user interface to communicate with your favorite appliances.

According to L5, the remote will allow users to design their own visual interfaces using a drag-and-drop approach. However, you'll have to manually assign the functions to the remote by pointing it at the remote of the device you want to control and pressing the button of the desired function.

The L5 Remote serves the same purpose as the universal remotes that Macworld featured in its review roundup last October, except that you will presumably be able to position each key exactly where you want it to be, instead of having to rely on a pre-determined layout.

Interestingly, because the hardware portion of the remote needs to be plugged into the dock connector, the interface of the app is actually flipped upside down so that you can point the IR transceiver at your appliances while pressing a button.

The company claims that the remote will work with iPhone and iPod models of all generations—including the original iPhone—and that it will be able to store and reproduce up to 100,000 button codes in up to 1,000 configurations.

Both the software and the hardware accessory, which does not require any external power source and works by simply plugging it into a compatible device, are slated for release in February. The transceiver is expected to retail for $50, while the companion app will be a free download from the App Store.

Wi-Fi has taken the entertainment device market by storm, with cameras, gaming devices (handheld and consoles), and personal media players (PMPs) incorporating the technology within the past few years, reports In-Stat. Wi-Fi-enabled entertainment device shipments will increase from 108.8 million in 2009 to 177.3 million in 2013.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

Although the Apple iPod Touch clearly has the dominant Wi-Fi-enabled PMP market share , many vendors have offerings in the space including Archos, Chumby Industries, Com One, Commodore International, Cowon, Creative, Dell, Haier, iriver, Logitech, Microsoft, Mintpass, Nokia, Philips, Polaroid, Revo, SanDisk, Sangean, Sirius, Slacker, Sony, Toshiba, and Venzero.
Nikon shipped 91% of Wi-Fi-enabled cameras in H1 2009.
For the past several years all gaming consoles have had Wi-Fi embedded, which is a trend that will continue throughout the forecast period. The most significant variance in handhelds will be the type of Wi-Fi embedded. Beginning in 2010, these devices will begin shipping with 802.11n, while previously all devices were being shipped with 802.11b.

Personal recommendations and online user reviews have the biggest influence on consumer electronics purchases, a new survey shows.

According to the poll, fielded by BIGresearch on behalf of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA), word of mouth influences about 43.7 percent of CE purchases, although articles, advertising inserts and in-store promotions also sway buying decisions.

"Hearing what other people have to say about a product gives shoppers the satisfaction of knowing what they purchased is peer-reviewed and worth their money," said Mike Gatti, executive director, RAMA, a division of the National Retail Federation (NRF). "Whether it is based on a conversation with a friend or a customer review on a Web site, people put a lot of weight in other shoppers' opinions."

Newspaper and magazine articles also carry a lot of weight with consumers. More than one-third (33.9 percent) said articles written about the product influence their decision to buy it, while 26 percent are influenced by advertising inserts, and nearly the same percentage are swayed by in-store promotions.

Coupons were another key sales driver, influencing the CE purchases of 22.8 percent of shoppers, while 5.1 percent cited video game advertisements and 4.7 percent pointed to blogs as factors in their final purchase decision.

"Traditional media still plays a big role in consumers' everyday lives, but technology has paved the way for people to have instant access to sales events, promotions and even customer reviews," observed Phil Rist, strategic initiatives executive VP at BIGresearch, a consumer research firm.