Imagination’s revolutionary wireless multiroom audio technologies get strong US market support and traction

Labels and retailers support integrated music system with wireless multiroom speakers with unparalleled synchronization technology

Imagination Technologies (LSE: IMG.L), reports significant developments in the delivery of new technologies enabling the mass market adoption of wireless multiroom audio and associated streaming music systems. The technologies are helping to drive the on-going revolutionary transition of home audio and music systems to wireless operation for both local and cloud-based content, and working in conjunction with phones, tablets and PCs.

Imagination is enabling the four crucial components for this wireless multiroom revolution.

• Caskeid, a technology developed by Imagination to deliver exceptionally accurate synchronized wireless multiroom connected audio streaming. The unique and patented Caskeid technology delivers outstanding audiophile-quality stereo playback with less than 25µS delay; a true ‘Wi-Fi Hi-Fi’ that is good enough to replace wires, satisfying even the most demanding audiophile
• Caskeid enabled speakers powered by devices using Imagination’s Wi-Fi technologies and processor cores
• FlowAudio, part of Imagination’s FlowCloud platform. Developed in partnership with 7Digital, FlowAudio provides a digital warehouse with over 22 million high quality tracks
• A full implementation of all of the above, supported by mobile phone and tablet Apps as well as PCs, launched today in the USA by Imagination’s Pure division across the major retailers. Other manufacturers have already licensed the technologies and are expected to enter the market in due course

Based on the above technologies, Imagination’s Pure division today launched its Pure Connect(1) on-demand music service in the U.S alongside comprehensive retail availability of its new Jongo family of wireless speakers. Jongo is the first Caskeid-enabled multiroom system to deliver the sync performance and quality of a wired system in a wireless setting, and is a superior technological solution compared to others on the market today.

The launch by Pure has support from independent and major music labels – including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. The Jongo multiroom speaker system is available now in approximately 2,800 Walmart stores and on Walmart.com, in addition to more than 300 Best Buy locations and can be ordered now online at Amazon.com.

Hossein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination Technologies, said:

“Wireless audio is reaching a tipping point. More than half of U.S. consumers say they are likely to buy a wireless speaker product and engage with streaming digital music(2) but this huge audience hasn’t yet found the right solution. By delivering a platform that caters to this mainstream audience Imagination is enabling manufacturers to deliver music the way people now want to listen to it.”

Audio has been a key consumer category in recent years with first the boom in iPod docking systems and then the recent explosion in Bluetooth speakers and premium headphones for casual listening. Analysis shows that Wi-Fi multiroom speakers, which are suited for a more immersive and connected listening experience, are poised to be the ‘next big thing’ in consumer audio and will represent a growing part of the wireless speaker market, which will quickly eclipse the speaker dock market.

Editor’s Notes

(1) Comprehensive information about Pure Connect and Jongo can be found in the press release “Pure Connect Music Service Goes Live in the U.S.”, issued today.

(2) 57 percent of US consumers said they were ready to buy a product like Jongo. The study, carried out by AudienceNet for Pure, polled a statistically and demographically representative sample of over 5000 respondents from the UK, Germany, France, Italy and North America. Results clearly show a high demand for both Bluetooth and wireless multiroom speakers.

About Pure

Pure is a world leading consumer electronics manufacturer and leads the way in music streaming and radio systems and entertainment cloud services with the Pure Connect portal www.pureconnect.com as well as innovating in new areas such as the TV set top box market. Designed and engineered in the UK, all of Pure’s products are manufactured with the environment in mind and at ethically audited facilities. Pure is a division of Imagination Technologies Group plc. See www.pure.com.

About Imagination Technologies

Imagination Technologies - a global leader in multimedia, processor, communication and cloud technologies - creates and licenses market-leading processor solutions including graphics, video, vision, CPU and embedded processing, multi-standard communications, cross-platform V.VoIP and VoLTE and cloud connectivity. These silicon and software intellectual property (IP) solutions for systems-on-chip (SoC) are complemented by an extensive portfolio of software, tools and ecosystems. Target markets include mobile phone, connected home consumer, mobile and tablet computing, in-car electronics, networking, telecoms, health, smart energy and connected sensors. Imagination’s licensees include many of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers, network operators and OEM/ODMs. Corporate headquarters are located in the United Kingdom, with sales and R&D offices worldwide.

See: www.imgtec.com.