NEWS


Frontier Silicon brings the world's first colour touch digital radio platform to market.

London, 24th August 2009 - Frontier Silicon, the leading supplier of connected audio technology, has announced that its Venice 8 module together with colour touch screen interface is enabling the "IKON" radio announced by Revo Technologies Ltd today. IKON, which is expected to be on sale in time for Christmas 2009, takes radio to a new level of usability. It is the first to feature a full colour touch screen interface supporting advanced multimedia capabilities, providing consumers with an all-in-one device which is able to receive radio programs wirelessly via the internet, DAB, FM, Last.fm as well as playing their music collection via a home network and docked iPOD.

Anthony Sethill, CEO of Frontier Silicon, commented, "Touch user interfaces on handheld devices have proven to be immensely popular with consumers. Frontier Silicon is now able to bring this experience to the home audio market triggering manufacturers to produce highly innovative cost effective connected audio products." 

IKON broke cover for the first time today in an official Revo press launch. David Baxter, managing director of Revo Technologies Ltd., commented, "Frontier Silicon's new Venice 8 module is a massive step forward for digital radio devices, allowing the combination of a colour touch-screen interface with multi-format radio capabilities and premium online music services such as Last.fm. Revo are proud to have been a lead manufacturer for this exciting new platform, and are delighted that our IKON touch-radio will be the first product to showcase its many and varied next-generation features."

The Venice 8 FS2028 module provides manufacturers with a fully customisable 320 x 240 colour touch UI (user interface) providing seamless access to a vast range of audio visual content:

  • Internet radio
  • Home network streaming
  • Premium audio streaming services from Last.fm and Pandora
  • WorldDMB profile 1 DAB/ DAB+/ DMB-Radio
  • FM-RDS
  • USB music player

Several hardware and software configurations are available, for Wi-Fi and Ethernet networks, DAB Band 3, L-BAND and FM-RDS reception. Frontier Silicon is also working with radio broadcasters around the world to deliver WorldDMB Profile 2 advance DAB features such as Slideshow and the MPEG-4 BIFS specification to further enhance digital radio to become a rich audio visual experience.

The Venice 8 module is also available in a reference platform, Jupiter 8, with IR 3.0 software which is designed to operate seamlessly with the rest of the digital audio world. In addition to being capable of addressing the various digital radio standards, suitable end-products based on this platform should be able to obtain certification for various other industry standards such as CE/FCC approval, iPod and iPhone certification, wireless, DLNA and DRM certification.

 

About Frontier Silicon Limited

Frontier Silicon is the world’s leading supplier of integrated circuits and modules for digital audio receiver products and mobile digital TV. Established in 2001 as a privately funded fabless semiconductor company, Frontier Silicon has over 120 employees. The company is based in London, England, with design centres in Cambridge, Dublin and Shannon. Frontier Silicon also has branch offices and technical support representation in Hong Kong, China and Japan. Products include complete solutions for digital audio systems including DAB, Internet radio and mobile TV, from silicon through software to production-ready platform designs.

Customers include Bang & Olufsen, Bose, Bush, Cyrus, Denon, Goodmans, Grundig, harman/kardon, Hitachi, JVC, Magic Box, Ministry of Sound, NAD, Onkyo, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, PURE, Revo, Roberts, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, TEAC, and Yamaha.

Frontier Silicon is a trademark or registered trademark of Frontier Silicon Ltd.

 

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