SDI Technologies is an American

Rahway, New Jersey Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

-based

consumer electronics Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic ( analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usuall ...

manufacturer whose products are marketed under several national brands, including Timex, eKids, KIDdesigns, and iHome. SDI used to market under Soundesign, a now-defunct brand. SDI Technologies had 110 employees as of 2007, and has a distribution network that covers over 70 countries. Including Asia, SDI employs over 400 people.

History

SDI Technologies was founded as Realtone Electronics in 1956 by Saul Ashkenazi and Ely Ashkenazi. In that year, the company introduced one of the first pocket cigarette lighters and one of the first

transistor radio A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following the invention of the transistor in 1947—which revolutionized the field of consumer electronics by introducing small but powerful, convenient ...

s. Realtone went public in 1961. It introduced the Soundesign brand of high-end audio components in 1963, and the company changed its name to Soundesign in 1968. Soundesign returned to being a

privately-held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

in 1982. The company was renamed again, this time to its current name, in 1994.

Products

Soundesign

Soundesign, the defunct flagship division of SDI Technologies originally known as RealTone, marketed inexpensive home and

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. The Soundesign brand faded as SDI began selling its products under the

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brand in 1993. SDI's current offerings include small electronics of the iHome and Timex brands.

iHome

Created in 2005, the iHome division produces docking stations, headphones, smart home devices, and other accessories. iHome speakers are able to stream music over

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AirPlay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

, as well as via a wired connection. In addition to playing music wirelessly, some systems can act as a charging station for many devices when connected. Their compatibility ranges from smartphones, MP3 players, iPods, tablets, and many more. Some iHome accessories act as a docking station so that users with tablets can use a physical keyboard rather than the one provided on-screen with many devices. iHome also produces several smart home accessories such as smart outlets and motion detectors, which are compatible with Apple

HomeKit HomeKit, also known as Apple Home, is a software framework developed by Apple Inc., made available in iOS and iPadOS that lets users configure, communicate with and control smart-home appliances using Apple devices. It provides users with a way ...

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

SmartThings SmartThings Inc. is an American home automation company headquartered in Mountain View, California with a software development center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 2012, it focuses on the development of eponymous automation software and a ...

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, as well as others.iHome Smart Home Accessories

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Electronics companies established in 1956 Rahway, New Jersey Companies based in Union County, New Jersey