[New artifact-free home Wi-Fi music distribution system links the Ruckus MediaFlex multimedia Wi-Fi router and the Squeezebox from Slim Devices.]

New York, Digital Life Exhibition -- Slim Devices, Inc., makers of the affordable Squeezebox wireless streaming audio players, and Ruckus Wireless, Inc., pioneers of "smart Wi-Fi" technology, today announced a marketing partnership under which the companies will offer the first in-home wireless digital music system that effectively eliminates audio artifacts, extends the range and ensures the highest reliability of digital music distribution within the home.

The companies also announced that they are demonstrating the new system in their joint "Digital Domicile" (Stand 447) and will begin offering a bundled solution at the Digital Life Exhibition this week in New York City.

The new digital music distribution system pairs the Ruckus MediaFlex multimedia Wi-Fi router with the popular Squeezebox from Slim Devices. This gives consumers, for the first time, high-quality, stutter-free music playback throughout their home over standard Wi-Fi.

With the advances made in digital content and data compression, consumers are now looking for an easy and reliable way to move music around the home. While Wi-Fi has become the de facto medium for accessing data content, it wasn't designed to support reliable whole-home multimedia streaming. Having become accustomed to the location-freedom that Wi-Fi affords, consumers are now looking to extend this anytime, anywhere access to all other types of multimedia, particularly digital music.

"Moving any kind of streaming multimedia over Wi-Fi is plagued with problems," said Rick Thompson, senior analyst at Heavy Reading. "Consumers love and want Wi-Fi for all their digital content but have no way to deal with the vagaries of Wi-Fi, such as RF interference, that can ruin music playback. Slim Devices and Ruckus have really focused on helping consumers solve these problems with an affordable and easy-to-use system."

Music Stuttering Over Wi-Fi a Thing of the Past

Unlike any other products on the market, Ruckus Wireless and Slim Devices have created a highly-reliable digital music home distribution system that prioritizes digital music streaming to the Squeezebox, automatically steering it around Wi-Fi interference.

The unique solution leverages technical advances in Wi-Fi that deliver longer range and unprecedented Wi-Fi stability by directing signals over the best path through the air at any given time. When interference is experienced, the system automatically steers music traffic over a better path in the air without effecting music playback.

Unlike other systems on the market, the Ruckus Wireless part of the solution also supports data and video streaming over the same network. Digital music traffic will receive higher priority over other traffic, such as file downloads, to ensure the highest quality user experience.

With the new solution, consumers are now able to reliably stream digital music to any corner of their home over standard Wi-Fi without experiencing audio "artifacts" or music stuttering caused by Wi-Fi interference from microwave ovens, cordless phones, neighboring networks, Bluetooth devices, hair dryers and other household items.

"Given a choice, people want to use Wi-Fi for moving their music around the home but have no idea about all the things that can cause problems," said Patrick Cosson, vice president of sales and marketing for Slim Devices. "With Ruckus Wireless, we're solving a huge industry problem facing consumers while giving them a uniquely differentiated solution that increases reliability and ensures the highest quality experience when streaming music over Wi-Fi in the home."

No Configuration Installation

With built-in support for 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Slim Devices' Squeezebox is easy-to-use and set up, letting users access any song in their music collections, from any room in their home. It delivers pure digital sound, in all of today's leading and emerging formats (e.g. FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, WMA Lossless, Apple Lossless, MP3 and AAC), without the hassle of shuffling through CDs. From its simple remote control, Squeezebox gives instant access to any music on a single or multiple computers, plus hundreds of crystal-clear Internet radio stations.

Based on revolutionary new smart antenna and quality of service technology that increases the reliability of Wi-Fi, the Ruckus MediaFlex router is a purpose-built in-home multimedia Wi-Fi system that connects to any DSL modem or broadband gateway via a standard Ethernet cable.

To install the system, consumers simply power on the Ruckus MediaFlex and plug it into the Ethernet port on their DSL modem or broadband gateway. No configuration is necessary. Squeezebox owners merely place the Squeezebox in the desired room and perform the simple installation of the system. Within minutes, users are streaming music to any room without cumbersome setup or disruptive wiring.

Pricing and Availability

Available immediately, Slim Devices is bundling the Ruckus MediaFlex router with its Squeezebox player for $359. Slim Devices and Ruckus Wireless will be providing Digital Life attendees with a special, one-time offering with free shipping. Visit the Digital Domicile stand (No. 447) for more details.

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