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HD Radio Makes A Small Splash at CES
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) had a huge array of HD Radio products on display: While HD Radio is still entering the marketplace, CES could be considered its real public debut. While there were products and some big announcements in Jan. 2005, there was plenty of product--some of it shipping, most close--on the floor More importantly, the technology and cost issues are finally being solved.
At the iBiquity booth, HD Radio's creators, they were displaying several high-end receivers incorporating HD Radio and six tabletop radios. Three are known mostly by their early announcement and later release: Boston Acoustics' Receptor Radio HD (on view at the show and shipping), Radiosophy's Multistream HD, and Polk Audio's I-Sonic. Radiosophy's radio is still a couple months away from release, and appeared only at iBiquity's booth. At Polk Audio's booth, they had two I-Sonic units to show, but engineering issues have delayed release another few months. Still, because the I-Sonic uniquely plays DVDs and CDs, has built HD Radio support, and has a slot to insert a $49 XM Radio module, it has a niche that isn't nearly filled.
iBiquity had three other radios on view, none of which I'd heard of. One is a concept design that's looking for manufacturers who want to buy it. I foolishly failed to note the manufacturers of these three radios, assuming the information would be publicly available elsewhere. Nonetheless, the radios are on their way.
Etón wasn't showing an HD Radio at their booth, but an existing form factor radio that currently has satellite digital radio module support will be released possibly as soon as summer with an HD tuner.
Some intelligence gathered from iBiquity's booth indicates that newer, cheaper chips on easier-to-integrate circuit modules should be out starting around April. Chip modules cost about $60 now but will drop a bit in price, but the real savings will be on a simpler engineering approach.