Noise reduction and surround sound technology pioneer, and founder of the audio company sharing his name Ray Dolby, passed away age 80 following long struggle with Alzheimer's Disease and leukemia.

"Today we lost a friend, mentor and true visionary," Dolby Laboratories president Kevin Yeaman says. "Ray Dolby founded the company based on a commitment to creating value through innovation and an impassioned belief that if you invested in people and gave them the tools for success they would create great things. Ray's ideals will continue to be a source of inspiration and motivation for us all."

Born in 1933, Dolby was 16-years when he was working on videotape recording systems at Ampex. He then headed at Stanford and got a degree in electrical engineering before getting a PhD from Cambridge University in 1961.

The HDMI Forum announces the next generation of HDMI specification at IFA 2013-- with new features including 4K@50/60 (2160p) video, 32 audio channels, dynamic auto lip-sync and CEC extensions.

It also handles audio frequencies of up to 1536kHz, dual video streams (for multiple users on a single screen), multi-stream audio to 4 simultaneous users and 21:9 widescreen video.

HDMI 2.0 connectors and cables are backwards-compatible with the first generation, and current high speed (category 2) cables can carry the increased bandwidth.

The HDBaseT Alliance releases the specifications of HDBaseT 2.0-- now with a HomePlay feature set adding USB 2.0 and point-to-multipoint video distribution to HDMI, ethernet, IR and RS-232 signals carried over Cat 5e/6 cable.

"The HDBaseT 2.0 specification defines the required adaptations across all 7 layers of the Open system Interconnection (OSI) model to support time-sensitive, high throughput video/audio and other time sensitive applications," the Alliance says. "The HomePlay switch is designed to provide all required services for the multimedia home."

HDBaseT 2.0 adds networking, switching and control point capabilities, as well as point-to-multipoint connectivity for multi-stream support. The first version, on the other hand, defined a point-to-point connectivity standard with a 5Play (video, audio, Ethernet, power and controls) feature set.

CEDIA announces the finalists of the 2013 Manufacturers' Excellence awards-- 31 products in the Best New Product category and 2 products in the Sustainable Lifestyle Product Innovation category.

The association will name the winners on 27 September at the CEDIA Expo 2013, and will give out the awards at the Electronic Lifestyles Award Celebration on 28 September.

The finalists are as follows:

The Wi-SUN Alliance, the group promoting IEEE 802.15.4g interoperability standard, completes verification of the Physical Layer Conformance and Interoperability Test specification for Wireless Smart Utility Network devices.

The test specification are the final step in the creation of a certification process for products carrying a Wi-SUN PHY logo assuring seamless interoperable deployment within utility networks.

Alliance members also validated the Wi-SUN PHY specification as the foundation for key utility network areas, including Field Area Networks and Home Area Networks.

In May of this year, Nortek noted it had experienced double-digit growth, as well as a slight increase in gross profit year-over-year. But, at the same time, it announced a net loss of $15.1 million compared with a net loss of $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2012 – a significant increase in its losses.

So, it’s not surprising that Nortek would be looking to dump a company or two to increase cash flow. We heard a rumor at InfoComm that Nortek was actively shopping a buyer for at least two of its Technology Solutions Group companies. Now we understand, via two different sources, that those two companies are TV One and Magenta Research.