Nine leading technology companies banded together Tuesday to form a new industry alliance aimed at developing standards to ensure interoperability among wireless multimedia devices.
The non-profit group, dubbed WiMedia Alliance, said that it will establish a certification program to accelerate consumer demand for wireless products, as well as manage a WiMedia brand and license it to organizations whose products make the grade.
To begin, the group’s activities will be based on the IEEE 802.15.3 draft standard with enhancements planned for future wireless systems such as ultra-wideband, the alliance said in a statement.
WiMedia’s founding members include Eastman Kodak Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., Motorola Inc., Royal Philips Electronics NV, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sharp Laboratories of America Inc., Time Domain Corp., XtremeSpectrum Inc. and Appairent Technologies Inc.
The group is holding its first meeting at the Philips Silicon Valley Center in Sunnyvale, Calif., from Oct. 21 through 23.
