April 11, 2006
iBiquity Releases Second Version of Reference Design for HD Radio Receivers
iBiquity, owners of the HD Radio trademark and licensers of the technology, have version 2.0 of their hardware design for tabletop devices: The company has certified its 2.0 reference design--a kind of blueprint for making a complete module--for receivers and tabletop radios. At the CES show in January, I heard that many manufacturers were waiting for this 2.0 module's release before designing their own systems, as they had issues in the cost and receive sensitivity of the previous module. iBiquity had a prototype on display in its booth at that giant show.
They have a laundry list in this press release of firms in China that make radios using their components. These firms typically produce radios from a basic set of plans that are released with different brands in the US. The more firms that make these generic underpinnings and can put different plastic covers on them, the cheaper HD Radio will become for listeners.