The DEMOfall 09 show in San Diego showcased more than 60 companies offering pitches of new companies and products aimed to make your life better, whether as an individual user or at your company. Here are a few of my favorites:
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The DEMOfall 09 show in San Diego showcased more than 60 companies offering pitches of new companies and products aimed to make your life better, whether as an individual user or at your company. Here are a few of my favorites:
Read more
Cisco this week released three "Webisodes" of people using its home networking and consumer technology to live a digital life. The 'Digital Cribs' Webisodes feature "tech-savvy trend-setters" using the Cisco products to enhance their home life. Read more
During Cisco's third quarter conference call last week, CEO John Chambers talked about Cisco's intention of bringing virtualization all the way from the data center into the home. Hey, is that really my cat???
First of all, what is a virtualized home and why would we want it? Colin Dixon, broadband media practice manager at market tracker The Diffusion Group, has an interesting take on this in his blog.
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Larry Hettick, a principal analyst at Current Analysis, and co-author of Network World's Convergence and VoIP newsletter, spent some time with Cisco at the recent Consumer Electronics Show where the networking giant detailed its desire to push further into the home networking space. Could Cisco dominate the consumer space as it has the enterprise space? Read more
Updated 01-26-09:
Google News lists tens of thousands of Windows 7 stories published in the past couple of weeks. What more is there to say about the beta operating system? And how much do you have to read before you know what you need to know? Truth is, not much. So at Microsoft Subnet we offer you what you really need ... a roundup of the news important to the enterprise. Here goes ... Read more
Barely three months after its acquisition of home networking vendor Pure Networks, Cisco's Linksys division has rolled out its first Pure Networks products. Network Magic 5.0 is aimed at enabling the average Joe to setup, manage and secure home networks like an IT pro, according to the pitch. The software comes in three flavors: Essentials for basic fun Read more
Cisco is aiming its new bundle of gear and services at companies that want to set their employees up to work from home. With fewer workers on the road on their daily commutes Cisco is doing its bit to help Read more
save the planet - and to sell new gear at the same time. Called Cisco Virtual Office (CVO), the package includes IP phones and multiservice routers to be placed in home offices or branch offices and linked to corporate headquarters. And of course, Cisco doesn't just sell technology to let people work from home - it also sells technology for their recreational time too.
Cisco has shelled out some more cash in the home networking market, this time a strategic investment in Celeno, a maker of semiconductors for multimedia Wi-Fi home networking applications. The Israeli company announced it has closed a $16 million Series C investment led by the networking giant.
This is the blurb about Celeno on Cisco's press release: Read more
Cisco has dug a little into its pocket to purchase privately held Pure Networks, a Seattle-based provider of home networking-management software and tools. Pure Networks, which will be integrated into Linksys, enables consumers to set up a home network connecting a range of devices, applications and services, says Cisco. Pure already partners with Cisco to provide the software infrastructure and tools used to create the Linksys Easy Link Advisor (LELA), aimed at smoothing the process of organizing and managing a home network, according to Cisco. Read more
Cisco subsidiary Linksys introduced a new wireless router today, tailored to the needs of home digital media content especially high-def video. What's cool about the new WRT610N is that it is a simultaneous dual-N band wireless router that operates in both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz spectrums. Users can connect entertainment-oriented devices, such as a media center extenders, audio players or personal video recorders via the wider 5GHz band.. Read more
Panasonic joins Cisco and others as the latest investor of Zensys, which makes the Z-Wave wireless home control wireless mesh networking technology "that allows a wide array of devices in and around the home to communicate including lighting, appliances, HVAC, entertainment centers, and security systems," according to the company. Other investors include Intel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Palamon Capital Partners and Sunstone Capital.
More from Cisco Subnet:
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Microsoft yesterday (yes, on Sunday), announced that Windows Home Server is shipping. Microsoft unveiled Windows Home Server, formerly known by the code name Quattro, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. The software lets home Windows PC users share and store multimedia and other files, as well as install security to protect files on a home network. (Here's something to chuckle about -- Microsoft describes the product as a "stay-at-home" server. As opposed to what? A career server that travels a lot? A laptop server that you take with you to Starbucks? ) Read more
Cisco has struck a deal with Haier, China's largest manufacturer of large home appliances that will allow the two companies to exchange knowledge of the home networking and other consumer-related markets.
The deal follows news that Cisco is in discussions with the Shanghai government to build a wireless broadband "Mega City" in time for the 2010 World Expo (see this blog entry).
Cisco and Haier will share best practices in areas such as investments and financial management and controls, Cisco said in a news release. Read more
People want wireless.
ZigBee is a wireless protocol aimed at inexpensive, low-power applications. Integrated ZigBee chipsets, with battery power slated to last six months to two years, are available for $1 or less. In addition, ZigBee-enabled devices are networked readily: As many as 65,536 such devices can be connected in a star topology or a peer-to-peer configuration. The data rate for this cost-effective and low-power technology is 20K to 250Kbps.
ZigBee, based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, performs very well in environments with a low signal-to-noise ratio. Radio signals extend 10 meters to 40 meters, depending on settings and signal strength). Read more
If home networking technology were more like the Brady Bunch, Wireless would be Marcia (Oldest, prettiest, flashiest), Home Coax would be Cindy (youngest), and Powerline would be Jan (middle child, often ignored). But at least one company has some love for Jan – Sling Media, makers of the Slingbox device that lets users watch their TV content remotely.
The company today announced its SlingLink Powerline Ethernet Adapters, aimed at providing high-speed Ethernet connectivity via power lines within the home. The adapters allow Slingbox owners to connect their Slingbox and TV in one room of the house, while a home router can be located somewhere else. The adapters come in two flavors – for $149.99 you can buy the SlingLink Turbo 4 Port, which includes one 4-port adapter and one 1-port adapter; or the $99.99 SlingLink Turbo 1 Port package, which includes two 1-port adapters. Adapters are available for purchase at Sling Media's Web site, as well as retailers Best Buy, Circuit City, Amazon.com and Buy.com over the next few weeks.
The pair of adapters work like this – one adapter plugs into a home router via Ethernet cable, and plugs into an electrical outlet. The second adapter (whether it's the 4-port or the 1-port) plugs into the Slingbox and an electrical outlet in another room of the house. The additional three ports on the 4-port adapter could be used to connect other Ethernet-enabled devices situated near the Slingbox, such as a game console, digital video recorder (like a TiVo), networked media server, or even an old-fashioned computer.
The adapters feature Intellon Corp.'s INT5500 HomePlug 1.0 with TURBO chipset, an interesting choice given that newer HomePlug AV products from other companies are out on the market.
Still, I like the 4-port option, as the tech-savvy home is increasingly coming with Ethernet ports, and an adapter like this can put all of those devices onto a single powerline adapter instead of relying on another technology for connecting to the home router.
It's also interesting that Sling Media chose powerline (Jan) over wireless (Marcia), although it's not out of the question that the company down the road might provide a wireless technology option (and there's nothing preventing users from adding their own wireless adapter to their Slingbox). With a retail push like this with major retailers, powerline might finally get the respect it deserves, and we won't be hearing things like "Wireless! Wireless! Wireless!" all the time.
Engadget HD is blogging about a BusinessWeek report that says that Cisco is putting the finishing touches on a "souped up" set-top box that sounds like it will help you do everything around your den bar put the ottoman under your feet.
This week in Gearhead we start with some reader feedback and then carry on from the last two week's of dealing with digital music to answer Mrs. Gearhead's request for a digital thing to deal with the pile of CDs and our grumbling.
Cnet has an interesting take on Cisco's much talked about ambitions in the consumer market. In an interview with Richard Palmer, general manager of Cisco's security technology group, it emerges that Cisco's strategy in the home market puts it in competition with security stalwarts, Symantec and McAfee, but not in their traditional markets. "We think security is going to be a fundamental requirement for the networked home," Palmer is quoted as saying. Buying security software and loading it onto a PC isn't the way people will be securing their systems in the near future, according to Cnet. "That market is being transformed," says Palmer. Read more
Wouldn't it be possible to use a high gain antenna that could potentially cover a directional distance of 1 or 2 miles on both ends? I know there are antennas that can easily screw on the standard antenna port on most home wi-fi routers. Just a thought!
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