CES 2008: Holy Wireless HDMI, Batman!

More like Belkin than Batman: Belkin's FlyWire, which launches this May, will transmit HDMI wirelessly from your video source to your television. This could be a good solution for those of us who are both unwilling to pay for a costly home installation and unwilling to live with ugly wires - at $500-$600, the FlyWire is a good deal cheaper than getting wires dropped behind drywall by an AV professional.

The FlyWire transmits uncompressed 1080p HD video on the 5.8GHz spectrum with a whopping 1.5 Gbps protocal by the name of WHDi, courtesy of Israeli company Amimon. With a 50-100 foot range, Belkin aims to let the transmitter transmit to as many receivers as lie within its reach - in other words (substantial copyright issues aside), you could theoretically watch a Blu-ray or HD-DVD on any HD set you own. Which, if you're the Prince of Bahrain is probably a lot.

But when talking home theatre, I've learned that overkill is better than underkill, especially when it comes to aesthetics: nothing ruins the fun of a fancy setup than unsightly wires. Now I sound like my mother, who'll build a quaintly painted wooden hutch around any piece of electronics unlucky enough to stay in her house for more than a day. Age is a bitch, gang.

CES Best: Look ma, no HDMI cable showing [DVICE]