IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 18, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Safi Qureshey, an early leader in the PC industry as founder of AST Computer, today announced the launch of Quartics, Inc., a fabless semiconductor company focused on the development of codec and transport agnostic media processors and applications. Quartics engineers a comprehensive media processing system-on-a-chip (SoC) and an entire suite of software and reference designs for OEMs and ODMs that provides a simple and cost-effective means to wirelessly link a personal computer with any television or projection system.
"The digital market is growing multifold and Quartics enters the market at a time when digital displays, user-generated and Internet-based content and broadband connectivity are all coming together," said Qureshey, chairman and CEO of Quartics. "We're bridging the gap between users' media and content they access on their PCs and how they view it on their televisions and other displays. With Quartics, what users view on their PCs, they now can view on their TV and do it wirelessly and cost effectively without compromising resolution quality."
"Streaming of IP-based entertainment to a variety of displays is one of the biggest opportunities, and challenges, in the digital home," said IdaRose Sylvester, senior analyst at IDC. "Companies ushering new capabilities that will significantly change the way media applications are utilized and integrated with other devices will be well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity."
Quartics products are deployed as external adapters or embedded modules in televisions or digital projectors, using either a wireless or wired network. Distributed through partnerships with OEMs and ODMs, and augmented by strategic partnerships with content providers, Quartics is driving the following video and graphics applications:
-- PC-to-TV - The PC-to-TV applications revolutionizes the way
users interact with digital content stored on the PC. Consumers
can view anything they can see on their PC screen directly
on their flat-panel TV, wirelessly.
-- Wireless Projectors - Quartics' solution enables users to be
freed from wires, providing simple and easy-to-switch access
between one presenter and the next without having to exchange
VGA connections.
-- USB Hubs - Quartics is providing the convenience of docking
units or to enable users a simple connection to a user's
display of choice.
Quartics' technology is being incorporated in a number of products currently being shipped and planned for introduction in the coming months. Included in the company's growing list of OEMs utilizing its technology are Acer, ViewSonic and D-Link. An early adopter of the breakthrough architecture is Orange County-based Addlogix who has been shipping products based on Quartics' technology over the past year through major online distributors such as Dell.com, Ingram Micro, CompUSA, HP.com and PCMall.com.
According to Addlogix President, Sharon Charna, "The Quartics architecture allows our customers new flexibility in how they interact with their environment. Both businesses and consumers are looking for ways to free their content from their PCs and use it how and where they want without restrictions. The Quartics-enabled products we're producing allow them to do just that."
The rise of Internet video and audio has opened the floodgates on a new generation of Web-based content. The last several years have witnessed a growing disharmony in the content space relative to ownership and distribution of media; no longer do content and media companies transmit free and paid material to subscribers solely through proprietary portals and coded receivers.
The ways in which consumers enjoy media content have changed dramatically as well: consumers demand immediacy. The only restraints lie in the reproduction devices themselves-the viewing screens or audio devices that play back material. Since consumers now have increased control over how to display and consume media content, Quartics users now have the tools to bring it to the displays of their choice.
About Quartics
Quartics leverages breakthrough semiconductor architectural advantages to provide dominant media processing and media extension solutions for laptop computer and display markets. The company's codec- and transport-agnostic semiconductors enable the flawless transmission of video and audio for wireless PC-to-TV, wireless monitors, PC tuner cards, docking stations, wireless projectors, HD-networked PVRs, and video conferencing. In addition, Quartics provides OEMs and ODMs with complete, low-cost, easy-to-use solutions that they can quickly take to market-including systems on chips (SoCs), software, modules, and reference designs. For more information please visit www.quartics.com.