Initial production remains on schedule to begin in Sept. on first...
Initial production remains on schedule to begin in Sept. on first-generation Kenwood HD Radio IBOC receivers, while iBiquity Digital continues tweaking technology to address AM audio quality issues that sparked National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) to suspend standardization effort…
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(CED May 21 p1), Kenwood Senior Vp Bob Law told us. Kenwood’s KTC-HD100 is set to sell at projected $350-$400 list soon after production begins in Sept., with availability depending on when iBiquity finalizes any changes in system to fix AM quality problem, Law said. He said “it would take a major incident” for Sept. production start to be postponed. Moreover, “we have the ability to make software changes and all,” Law said. “The product is upgradable even after it comes off the assembly line, so if there are any late or last-minute things that are done, we will be able to accommodate that” after KTC-HD100 emerges from production but before they're shipped to retail. He said upgradability also would apply even “if there’s a major change of codec” at iBiquity from PAC to alternative method such as AAC. Kenwood last month shipped 100 samples of KTC-HD100 to iBiquity, which sent them to engineering community for evaluation, Law said. Kenwood engineers will study evaluation results “and if there’s any refinement that has to be made, it will be done. We're just waiting for iBiquity to complete the process with the broadcasters.” With debut of KTC- HD100 planned for 4th quarter, “I'm not looking to produce a tremendous quantity in this year,” perhaps no more than “a few thousand,” Law said. He said Kenwood most likely would wait to ramp up production after Jan. CES, because “I just don’t believe retailers will be focused on this type of a technology as we move into the Christmas season. They've got too much else to do.”