The HomePlug Powerline Alliance recently announced that more companies are joining in and planning to use the technology espoused by the group.

HomePlug is one of those technologies that just feels like it could bust out at any moment and be much more widely used - because the concept is so appealing. You plug your device into an electrical socket, and the device uses the power outlet as a network cable, communicating with devices plugged into other outlets in your house or building.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance, with about 60 member companies, says it has overcome the problem of electrical noise with "advanced, optimized algorithms in semiconductor technology."

Earlier this month, the alliance pointed to some new members, and said that DirecTV is using HomePlug technology to enable its customers to connect broadband services and home computers with its DirecTV Plus HD DVRs. This allows those customers to "enjoy photos and music content on their TVs," though that hardly seems like the most interesting application they could have thought up.

Russound is using HomePlug technology in the multiroom audio-video systems that it produces, in an attempt to make installation easier.

New members include VisualGate Systems, which is looking to the technology for security applications, and Grid Net and Cellnet Technology, which are looking at environmentally friendly applications.

Bryan Betts of Techworld recently pointed out that "HomePlug Powerline can quite cheerfully wire up an Ethernet socket anywhere that you'd plug your laptop in to charge up. So how long before we start to see it built into laptops and their power supplies?"

Well, that's a fair question. Will the market see a need to go beyond Wi-Fi and offer powerline communications as another, standard option? Or is the technology doomed to be pigeonholed as something that sounds cooler than it really is?

Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.