The Wifi Alliance announces a shakeup of wireless networking name conventions as it announces Wifi 6-- the next generation of wifi connectivity bringing about further capacity and performance, with lower power consumption.

Wifi 6 is what what we formerly known as the 802.11ax standard. Essentially the alliance realised the current wifi naming convention only leads to user confusion, bringing the need for simpler system. Thus, Wifi 1 is the very first version of the standard, 1999's 802.11b. It was followed by 802.11a, now known as Wifi 2. Wifi 3 is 802.11g, Wifi 4 is 802.11n and Wifi 5 is the version currently in use, 2014's 802.11ac.

The alliance plans to push the branding even in software, with devices showing which version of wifi they are currently connected to. As a result users can choose the superior wifi network, since it is obvious the network with a "5" is better than the one with a "4."

Atlona starts shipping the Opus series of HDMI-to-HDBaseT matrix switchers, available in 4x6, 6x8 and 8x10 aimed at both residential and commercial installs.

The AT-OPUS-46M (4×6), AT-OPUS-68M (6×8) and AT-OPUS-810M (8×10) matrix switchers all output HDBaseT, and can transmit HDMI, ethernet passthrough, bidirectional IR and RS-232 control signals to compatible receivers over distances of up to 100m. The switchers comply with HDCP 2.2 specification for protected content, and support 4K UHD video at 60Hz with 4:4:4 chroma sampling (8-bit colour) and HDMI data rates up to 18Gbps.

Gaming hardware maker Razer takes on networking with the Sila-- a tri-band AC3000 router the company promises is the fastest wifi around, with a FasTrack engine able to prioritise bandwidth for gaming purposes.

The Sila handles one 2.4GHz band at up to 400Mbps, and two 5GHz bands at up to 1733Mbps and 866Mbps. The surprisingly clutter-free design hides 9 antennas, while the software is able to detect consoles, determine if a PC is playing games and reserve bandwidth for gaming. In addition, a multi-channel zero-wait DFS system claims to eliminate network congestion issues caused by neighbouring wifi networks.

WyreStorm gives the EX-70-G2 a spec boost-- the entry-level HDBaseT extender includes support for 4K UHD and RS232 support. It is also HDCP 2.2 compliant for point-to-point HDMI extension with enhanced control options, such as CEC.

Class B HDBaseT handles the delivery of 3840 x 2160 resolution video at 30Hz 8-bit 4:4:4, or both 3840 x 2160 and 4096 x 2160 signals at 60hz 8-bit 4:2:0 to 35m., or 1080p 60Hz 48-bit to 70m, with multi-channel audio support up to Dolby Atmos and DTS-X.

Extron enters the AV-overIP market with a family of products to distribute and switch video, audio and USB 2.0 signals over standard ethernet networks, at speeds ranging from 40Mbps all the way to 10-gigabit-- the NAV series.

The products use the patented Extron PURE3 codec to deliver "visually lossless" (an actual compressing standard denoting a human with good eyesight should not detect any video signal loss) video  over IP at resolutions up to 4K@60Hz with 4:4:4 chroma sampling. In addition, the PURE3 system incorporates "Intelligent Selective Streaming (ISS), a means to identify "low motion content" in the image to achieve low bitrates while maintaining performance.

The result, Extron says, is low bitrates while maintaining consistent performance-- as opposed to other video codecs, which make compromises in either image quality, bandwidth requirements or latency-- depending on the application or available network bandwidth.

Luxul announces the XWC-2000 at CEDIA Expo 2018-- a next generation wireless controller featuring Roam Assist technology, a means to ensure the seamless roaming of mobile client devices.

The XWC-2000 allows the simple deployment of up to 32 wireless access points (AP) for large installations, all while ensuring mobile devices are always connected to the best AP for the highest performance. As a result, users can move freely throughout the home or business without the frustration of choppy video calls, intermittent whole-home audio and slow wifi speeds.