Polk Audio and Digital Harmony Partner to Produce IEEE-1394 Loudspeakers; Partnership Will Result in Loudspeakers for Home Entertainment Networks

Business Wire, Jan 6, 2001

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2001

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) -- Polk Audio Inc. and Digital Harmony Technologies Inc., announced today a licensing agreement that gives Polk access to Digital Harmony's growing portfolio of loudspeaker technologies, including DHIVA(TM) IEEE-1394 transceivers, WireFree wireless audio modules, and BiDAT data-hiding transceivers. Polk plans to incorporate Digital Harmony's networking technologies into its award-winning line of high-end loudspeakers for home entertainment systems.

Polk Audio, one of the most widely recognized and best selling loudspeaker brands, becomes the seventh major loudspeaker company to license Digital Harmony's technology. Polk joins Boston Acoustics, Infinity, JBL, Linn Products, Meridian Audio, and Peavey Electronics in shaping the entertainment network of tomorrow.

"Our goal is to bring customers both high performance and the latest in audio technology in a convenient, easy to use format. By incorporating Digital Harmony technologies we will be able to exploit the power of 1394 connectivity to make networked home entertainment systems and digital media delivery a practical choice for performance oriented customers." said Mathew Polk, chairman and founder of Polk Audio. "Digital Harmony's current product mix offers us the opportunity to integrate both wired and wireless networking technologies into our existing designs as well as future products."

Polk will make use of Digital Harmony's DHIVA IEEE-1394 transceiver modules. DHIVA is a complete hardware reference design that includes Digital Harmony's standards-based firmware for device control and media stream manipulation. DHIVA-powered loudspeakers can be connected to Digital Harmony entertainment networks via a single 1394 cable, and can be directly connected to other DHIVA-powered audio sources and surround sound decoders made by other Digital Harmony licensees such as Denon, Onkyo, and Harman/Kardon.

Polk also has access to Digital Harmony's WireFree and BiDAT modules. Digital Harmony WireFree(TM) is a high-quality, 8-channel wireless audio technology that is ideal for wireless loudspeakers systems. WireFree uses a patent-pending diversity technique that minimizes the multi-path interference problems found in many of today's wireless loudspeaker designs. Digital Harmony BiDAT(TM) transceivers transmit digital signals over traditional loudspeaker or line-level signal cables. BiDAT is an inexpensive solution for adding network control and monitoring features to loudspeakers and amplifiers.

"Digital Harmony is proud to partner with Polk, one of the world's most respected loudspeaker manufacturers," said Greg Bartlett, president of Digital Harmony Technologies. "The family of planned Digital Harmony audio/video products continues to grow with forward-thinking, innovative partners like Polk. Their dedication to the advancement of loudspeaker design is legendary, and we are confident that consumers will benefit from this partnership, in the form of advanced loudspeakers for the home."

About Digital Harmony Technologies

Digital Harmony's entertainment technologies are licensed to manufacturers of consumer and professional audio/video devices. These devices are used to create entertainment networks in homes, recording studios, theaters and automobiles. Digital Harmony-enhanced systems distribute and control multi-channel audio and video streams via secure wireless transmission, IEEE-1394 serial bus cables, and/or traditional loudspeaker cables. Digital Harmony licenses its technology to manufacturers as intellectual property, integrated circuit modules, and reference designs. Current licensees include Boston Acoustics, California Audio Labs, Cirrus Logic, ConnectTV, Denon, Go Video, Harman/Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Linn Products, Madrigal Audio Labs, Mark Levinson, Meridian Audio, Monster Cable, Onkyo, Panja, Peavey Electronics, Polk Audio, Proceed, QSC Audio, Sensory Science, and TC Electronic. The 50-employee, privately held company is based in Seattle, with an office in Tokyo. For more information, visit www.digitalharmony.com.

About Polk Audio

Founded in 1972 Polk Audio is one of the world's most well recognized and best selling brands of high quality home, car and multimedia loudspeakers. Polk's strong commitment to R&D has yielded numerous patents for improvements in loudspeaker technology and has helped Polk Audio to build products highly regarded for both performance and value. By concentrating solely on the speaker business, Polk Audio has earned the praise of audio experts the world over and has built a global reputation as "The Speaker Specialists." For more information, visit www.polkaudio.com.

Digital Harmony, DHIVA, Digital Harmony BiDAT, and Digital Harmony WireFree are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digital Harmony Technologies Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.