LONDON — LG Electronics Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), NEC Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., SiBeam Inc., Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have announced they are working together in a special interest group called WirelessHD. The group is developing a specification to pass high-definition multimedia material using an unlicensed frequency band at 60-GHz.

The WirelessHD organization said it plans to complete the specifications in Spring 2007.

The use of the 60-GHz band will allow transmission of uncompressed high-definition video and data transmission at rates of up to 5-Gbits per second and over distances of up to 30 feet in a single room, according to reports. The technology is being targeted at HDTV receivers as well as a wide range of audiovisual devices, both fixed location and portable.

WirelessHD said that it is issuing a call for other companies to take an interest and invited interested parties to visit its website at www.WirelessHD.org.

"The availability of high-definition wireless connections stands to eliminate the morass of cables, switches and other complexities traditionally needed to support the wide variety of devices consumers have and will continue to buy, such as HDTVs, HD disc players, digital video cameras and game consoles. With high-definition wireless links, media streaming and transmission from any source to any display or recorder is dramatically simplified by removing the need for a hard-wired connection. WirelessHD will provide a high-speed wireless digital interface that will enable customers to simply connect, play, transmit and port their HD content in a secure manner," stated John Marshall, chairman of WirelessHD.