LG Electronics and Toshiba Join ZigBee Alliance RF4CE Steering Committee

SAN RAMON, Calif., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The ZigBee® Alliance, a global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions supporting energy management in residential, commercial and consumer electronics applications, today announced LG Electronics, a leading global mobile communications and information company, and Toshiba, a global leader in consumer electronics and computing, have joined the ZigBee RF4CE™ Steering Committee focused on driving ZigBee RF4CE standardized solutions throughout the consumer electronics industry.   LG Electronics and Toshiba join Philips, Freescale Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Samsung and Sony on the Steering Committee.

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"We view ZigBee RF4CE as an industry-changing solution that dramatically improves upon the old infrared remote control user experience that is very limited in coverage, direction and data reliability," said Ho Jun Nam, principle research engineer at LG Electronics. "As new functionalities are being added to TV sets every day, we believe that ZigBee RF4CE will enable us to design low power interface devices that offer bi-directional communications, with agile response times and flexible human interface design to accommodate these new functionalities."

First announced in March 2009, ZigBee RF4CE is a standardized specification for radio-frequency communications that enables faster, more reliable and greater flexibility for devices to operate from larger distances. It removes the line-of-sight and field-of-vision barriers in today's IR (infrared) remotes.  With its two-way communication, ZigBee RF4CE opens the door to a whole new set of capabilities and consumer experiences. The ZigBee RF4CE specification is designed for a wide range of consumer electronic products, including home entertainment devices.

"Consumers are constantly looking for new product features in their electronic devices that will take their user experience to the next level," said Shigenori Tokumitsu, technology executive, Visual Products Company at Toshiba Corporation. "Today, Toshiba uses ZigBee RF4CE-based remotes  for selected televisions in certain markets. We believe ZigBee RF4CE is a critical building block upon which we can develop new, reliable and interactive solutions that will continue to excite consumers in the future."

ZigBee Remote Control™, made publicly available in December 2009, is the first ZigBee RF4CE based solution for consumer electronics and more applications for the consumer world are in development.  

"ZigBee RF4CE is helping CE manufacturers create products that not only work better, but also have features that bring a unique and new user experience to their consumer audience," said Bob Heile, chairman of the ZigBee Alliance. "The addition of LG Electronics and Toshiba to the steering committee is a testament to the growing influence that the ZigBee RF4CE standard is making on the CE industry."

ZigBee RF4CE: More flexibility and control

The ZigBee RF4CE specification operates in the 2.4GHz unlicensed frequency band and enables worldwide operation, low power consumption and rapid response time. It allows omni-directional and reliable two-way wireless communication, channel agility for enhanced co-existence with other 2.4GHz wireless technologies, simple secure set-up and configuration.  For more details, visit www.zigbee.org/rf4ce.

ZigBee: Control your world

ZigBee is the global wireless language connecting dramatically different devices to work together and enhance everyday life. The ZigBee Alliance is a non-profit association of more than 370 members driving development of ZigBee wireless technology. The Alliance promotes world-wide adoption of ZigBee as the leading wirelessly networked, sensing and control standard for use in consumer electronic, energy, home, commercial and industrial areas. For more information, visit:  www.ZigBee.org.  

SOURCE ZigBee Alliance