NETGEAR to Acquire SkipJam for Home Entertainment and Control

NETGEAR agreed to acquire SkipJam Corp., a developer of software for home entertainment and control, for $9 million in cash.



SkipJam was founded in 2002 and is based in Port Chester, New York. Upon close of the acquisition, SkipJam's engineering team will be integrated into the NETGEAR engineering organization with Michael Spilo, CEO of SkipJam, becoming NETGEAR's VP of Engineering for Multimedia Products.



SkipJam's technology will form the basis of future NETGEAR multimedia products, including media centers, media players, and audio players, builds upon NETGEAR's first generation of digital home entertainment products, and complements NETGEAR's high-speed, extended range home network infrastructure solutions such as RangeMax Next draft 802.11n wireless and 200 Mbps HD Powerline that enable simultaneous streaming of multiple HD quality videos, and devices like NETGEAR's Storage Central that store digital entertainment files.



"As more and more entertainment content is digitally distributed over the Internet, the market for networked entertainment devices is growing," said Patrick Lo, Chairman and CEO of NETGEAR. "With the availability of high- speed, extended range home network infrastructure solutions such as NETGEAR's RangeMax Next draft 802.11n wireless and 200 Mbps HD Powerline, streaming multiple HD quality videos simultaneously across the network is now a reality. SkipJam has the unique software technology to become the platform for us to build out our multimedia product portfolio and continue expanding worldwide in the growing category of digital home entertainment and control."http://www.netgear.com