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Inari takes on HomePlug at CES

By Toni Kistner
Net.Worker, 01/14/02

At the Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas, Inari announced a new line of power line networking chipsets and a heavyweight new partner, Mitsubishi Electric.

Those up on their power line networking trivia know Inari was formerly Intelogis, makers of the failed consumer power line networking product, PassPort. Otherwise, what's important to know is Inari builds only chips now, and is vying with nSine and ITRAN to have its proprietary technology adopted by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) for its forthcoming R7.3 specification, which will compete with HomePlug.

Inari is rolling out "scalable" chips that deliver 2M bit/sec, 4M bit/sec and 12M bit/sec speeds. According to president and CEO Tod Frohnen, Inari's approach will allow consumer electronics manufacturers to affordably build power line networking into products that demand lower throughput, such as video and monitoring cameras, media servers, Internet radios and MP3 players. The 2M bit/sec product is available now; the others are expected to follow later in the year.

Frohnen says the new Inari chips are interoperable. Interoperable with what, I asked? Each other. Oh. Regardless of Inari's future role, the CEA R7.3 group plans to select a technology by April, with the first CEA-compliant products likely to follow by year-end.

Meanwhile, Frohnen says Mitsubishi plans to launch an Inari-based line of PC adapters and bridges in the second quarter. It's odd Mitsubishi would partner with (and take an equity stake in) Inari just months before the CEA selects a technology standard. As odd perhaps as Mitsubishi's plans to develop power line data networking products instead of, say, power line networked cameras, media players or Internet radios?

In a parallel universe, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance specification is complete, enjoys strong industry support, and the first 14M bit/sec products should be shipping by month's end from Linksys, NetGear and Phonex. Even with competing product months away, CEA proponents aren't shy blasting HomePlug for being too expensive and too fast.

Granted, the first HomePlug products will be relatively expensive. Linksys adapters will cost $149, the same as its power line bridge product. However, you can be sure prices will drop just as wireless and home phone line products did before them. But too fast? Not for moving data between PCs, sharing broadband, videoconferencing and streaming media.

Speed and cost aside, both sides (though primarily I hear this from CEA folks) say the rival's technology is less stable, and won't work in some homes, or with some power outlets. Until we can start testing, such claims are smoke.

Frost and Sullivan just released its projections for the home networking market. While the industry generated $712 million in revenue in 2001, its projected by 2008 is $835 million - an increase of only $123 million over the next seven years. As telling, the report also warns that home networking technologies "will not only have to battle the lack of consumer awareness but also conflicting information from competitors."

Exactly. The last thing this market needs is a new standards war. Many consumers are already too confused to buy anything. With HomePlug on top, vendors like Linksys and NetGear will have a much easier time winning the battle and coaxing consumers to buy. Both vendors are excited about the early response to their power line products (compared to the weak response to their home phone line products). This time, they say consumers are "getting it."

You could argue it makes as much sense for Mitsubishi, Sony and Panasonic to buy the CEA's vision of power line as it does for Linksys and NetGear to embrace HomePlug. But if consumers are left scratching their heads by products that can't work together carrying conflicting messages, nobody wins. Even so, neither side is backing down.

Toni Kistner is managing editor of Net.Worker. Contact her at tkistner@nww.com.

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