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World’s First Hybrid DAB+ and Internet Radio Launched

London, 12 December 2007: Frontier Silicon has teamed up with REVO to deliver the world’s first radio to combine DAB/DAB+ and Internet radio. Called the Blik Radiostation and containing Frontier Silicon’s Venice 6 multistandard module, it is also the first digital radio on the market to provide plug-and-play reception of both DAB and DAB+ broadcasts.

Steve Evans, VP, Sales and Marketing, Frontier Silicon said: “The combination of Internet radio, DAB, DAB+, FM and network music streaming capability will be a very powerful proposition for end users.  REVO has done a fantastic job in designing and releasing this highly desirable radio so quickly. We expect Blik Radiostation to have particular appeal in key markets rolling out DAB+ services in the near future such as Australia.”

David Baxter, managing director, REVO Technologies said: “Frontier Silicon's leadership in multi-platform DAB/DAB+ and Wi-Fi internet radio technology made them the obvious partner for us. We are delighted that with their support and assistance, REVO is able to announce the first commercially available 'hybrid' DAB and Wi-Fi internet radio, and also the first DAB radio capable of receiving DAB+ broadcasts without the need for additional software or upgrades: Two world firsts.”

Already over 6½ million DAB units have shipped worldwide, but this has largely been to the UK which has accounted for around 80% of these shipments. However, with the availability of DAB+, many new countries are looking to roll out DAB+ digital radio services, including Australia (which officially launches in Jan 2009), Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Malta, Israel, Hungary, Kuwait, Malaysia, and New Zealand*.

Venice 6 is the world’s first digital module capable of receiving Internet radio via Wi-Fi, DAB/DAB+, FM and music streamed from a network server. Based around Frontier Silicon’s powerful Chorus 2 processor, it plays radio stations and music files in a variety of formats and protocols including MP3, Windows Media Audio (WMA), and RealAudio.

Ends

* Information provided by WorldDMB (www.worlddab.org)

Editor's notes

About Frontier Silicon

Frontier Silicon contact details

Revo: www.revo.co.uk

About Digital Broadcasting

Wi-Fi radio: Internet radio delivered over wireless home networks providing over 15,000 Internet radio stations and podcasts.
DAB: Digital radio standard Eureka 147 using MPEG Audio Layer 2 as standard audio codec.
DMB: DAB based application for mobile TV.
DAB+: Digital radio utilizing the more efficient MPEG-4 HE AAC v2 codec enabling more radio channels within a set radio spectrum.

Trademarks

Frontier Silicon is a trademark or registered trademark of Frontier Silicon Ltd. RealAudio is a registered trademark of RealNetworks, Inc. Windows Media is a trademark or registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.