Philips, Sony and Sun have all got “into bed” for a new Home Audio-Video interoperability (HAVi) architecture developed by eight major consumer electronics manufacturers with Sun’s Jini technology.

The companies aim to provide a solution that links HAVi compliant digital electronics appliances in the home to services provided by Jini technology over a network. Not only would this allow digital AV electronics appliances to access remote network services, such as a storage service for large video files, it would also allow users to remotely operate digital AV appliances and PCs across a Jini technology-based distributed network. For example, it will make it possible to access your home entertainment system to have a television program taped while you are away from home.

Created by Grundig, Hitachi, Matsushita, Philips, Sony, Sharp, Thomson, and Toshiba, [i.e. not Microsoft] the HAVi specification defines software elements, application programming interfaces (APIs), and communication protocols that allow digital electronics products to be seamlessly interconnected and interoperated as a home entertainment network.

Designed for use with the IEEE1394 [see next story] digital interface, HAVi supports the high-speed, secure transmission of data. Because the HAVi architecture allows products to reserve bandwidth and other resources, it is uniquely suited for the uninterrupted transmission of real-time AV data streams and other bandwidth intensive applications. Or in other words: “HAVi offers plug-and-play connectivity, an intuitive user interface, and future-proof expandability.” Oooo ... I love it when you talk like that.

http://www.philips.com/