Well, I've juste updated the HDMI FAQ to address HDMI v1.3. It seems we're both thinking about HDMI this morning...

It's possible that Outlaw will try to roll out new HDMI 1.3 processors as soon as next summer, but even if they retain the existing platforms and fit HDMI into them that would seem to be difficult. The specification was just published this week, and the main focus this year is likely to be getting 1.3 into the PS3 (so the HDMI chips for a v1.3 input may not arrive as soon as the output chips). The 990's already got the same DACs for all eight channels, so they could potentially keep the analog section of both units and try to gut the DVI sections, change up the digital audio input side to support HDMI audio inputs, change the DSP section to support the HD audio formats (something that the 49400 chip used by both the 990 and 970 will likely not support, if I had to guess), and get all of that into production. It'd be sort of cool to see them do it, but I'd be stunned to see an HDMI v1.3 Outlaw product before late 2007 and I'd rather they take the extra months to get things right (analog to digital video transcoding to the HDMI monitor output handles everything, confirmed compatibility with a number of different v1.0, v1.1, and v1.3 sources, and things like that) than see them wrangle HDMI into existing platforms just to be quick to market.

I don't want to sound negative or anything, but a small company like Outlaw can't afford to have a product generation that is only half-baked and I worry that modifying these existing platforms to handle HDMI v1.3 would run a strong risk of ending up that way. New products purpose-built to work with v1.3 (and the more complex decoding and video management issues associated with it) would be a much safer business choice as well as a better deal for the consumer in the long run, but that means more design work - and that means time. I'd be quite happy to be proven wrong by Outlaw if it meant products with effective v1.3 support shipping in 12 to 14 months, but if I had to guess today I'd honestly not expect an Outlaw HDMI v1.3 product coming out before December 2007 or early 2008.