# An Interview with Bunnie Huang - Bunnie's Bibelot Bonification

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2012-02-28
- Length: 1h 19m
- Episode: 84
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/the-amp-hour-84-bunnies-bibelot-bonification/

## Summary

Bunnie Huang, hardware designer behind the Chumby and NeTV, discusses his career trajectory from Silicon Graphics to founding Chumby and his recent work on the NeTV. He explains the technical and legal challenges of the NeTV, specifically how he used an FPGA to inject pixels into encrypted HDMI streams to bypass DMCA restrictions without decrypting the content. Huang also contrasts his business decisions, such as using Marvell chips with NDAs for Chumby versus using open-source-friendly Freescale chips for his hacker boards, and details his strategy for managing manufacturing in Shenzhen from Singapore.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification#t=0) Introduction: Bunnie Huang and his background
- [4:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification#t=246) Education and early career at SGI and Luxtera
- [16:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification#t=1004) Founding Chumby and manufacturing in China
- [28:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification#t=1681) Managing Shenzhen supply chains and gray markets
- [37:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification#t=2259) FPGA selection: Xilinx vs. Altera
- [44:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification#t=2646) NeTV design and DMCA legal strategy
- [1:03:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification#t=3826) Hacking the Xbox book and self-publishing
- [1:08:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2012-02-28-an-interview-with-bunnie-huang-bunnies-bibelot-bonification#t=4110) Chip selection: Marvell NDAs vs. Freescale

## Topics

- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Manufacturing partners & offshoring](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/manufacturing-partners)
- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Intellectual property](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/intellectual-property)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Chumby (product)
- NeTV (product)
- Xbox (product)
- Marvell (chip)
- Freescale (chip)
- Xilinx (chip)
- Altera (chip)
- Silicon Graphics (company)
- Luxtera (company)
- No Starch Press (company)
- Wiley (company)
- Microsoft (company)
- EFF (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [S3 E6: Building Innovation Moats with Open Hardware with Andrew "Bunnie" Huang](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2025-12-09-s3-e6-building-innovation-moats-with-open-hardware-with-andrew-bunnie-huang) (The Builder Circle)
- [140: Physics Is the Same Everywhere](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-25-140-physics-is-the-same-everywhere) (Embedded.fm)
- [052 - Twitter Is My Lab Notebook](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2021-10-26-052-twitter-is-my-lab-notebook) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [033 - All Over the Place](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2020-04-27-033-all-over-the-place) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [Ep046: Bring Us Your Nonsense, Hack NES Clones, Grasping FPGAs, Music Hacks, & Fish Tank of Random](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hackaday-podcast/2019-12-13-ep046-bring-us-your-nonsense-hack-nes-clones-grasping-fpgas-music-hacks-fish-tan) (Hackaday Podcast)

## Citing this page

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