ResidentialTechnology.com
Several industries are interested in residential connectivity markets, a highly-simplified breakdown of them includes:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, "Papa" Lorenzo: BIG on samples and happy hour buffets, periodically declares he's giving up on cheese (might as well call him "anti-American" i know), LOVES his wife (remember, "wife" spelled backwards is "efiw"), is certain his son is destined to be known as "Enzo the Great," appreciates his "parents" more each day (in-laws included), still dislikes cats, greatest fear is mediocrity, has resigned himself to blatant self-promotion (hey! i amuse me), defies popularity by defining himself, and wants (would like) you to pay him lots (market-value) of money for his work.
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RESIDENTIAL TECHNOLOGY A Monthly Column with Lorenzo D. Domínguez Residential Connectivity and Convergence: The Office Comes Home or How Home Networking Stocks Will Make You Richer in the Year 2000 THE CABLE SERVICE, MODEM, SET-TOP BOX, FIBER OPTIC CABLE MANUFACTURERS & SATELLITE COMPANIES Cable and satellite companies are vying for a position in the home networking race for a number of reasons. Perhaps first and foremost, cable and satellite provide consumers with what will perhaps be one of the most important drivers for home networking – content - more importantly, these companies have a head-start in up and soon to flood your living-room area of digital content. HDTV technology is here and in a few years everyone will have to throw out the old analog set and buy the better resolution digital receiving television, because the FCC has mandated that all broadcasts will be digital by say 2005 or so. More importantly, everything else is digital already, especially content as it streams over the Internet. Whoever can combine the TV with the PC (check out TiVo, ReplyTV and Microsoft’s WebTV) will win the whole enchilada, but whoever provides the means to feed this new machine will be the true winner because they will grow richer via monthly service fees (e.g. the new freePC with sign-your-life-away 3 year ISP service contracts). Hence, the cable and satellite companies are equally interested in the home networking game. At this point, their main concern is a very-low upload rate through cable modems, which essentially means for now, two-way communications are very limited to e-mail only and that transferring large or content-rich files is ludicrously slow. Another concern is their poor customer service track record, especially as it compares to the phone company. However, another distinct advantage is that (all potshots aside) TV is it. TV is where the future lies for centralizing consumer demand for home networking and Internet and entertainment access. TV is the friendly face which is both easy to understand and mesmerizing. Interfacing software which allows you to control your lights, HVAC and some appliances already exists and is on the market. All you have to do is consider that Time Warner, AT&T and Microsoft have made multi-million dollar investments in cable companies and you’ll realize that cable is definitely a player.
Major Supporting Technology Standard Working Group/Industry Alliance Association:
Initiatiated by Cable Television Laboratories (CableLabs), OpenCable is a specification for a common interface and interoperability of advanced digital settop-box equipment for broadband two-way cable networks. The spec is patterned after DOCSIS (data over cable service interface spefication). A standard for cable modem design and interoperability of andvanced digital set top box equipment for broadband two-way cable networks.
Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. (http://www.cablelabs.org/) For further information, please contact: Mike Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Communications December 14-17, 1999. CABLENET® '99 TO HOST NEARLY 90 TECHNOLOGY DEMOS AT CCTA'S WESTERN SHOW. CableLabs and the California Cable Television Association (CCTA) are co-sponsoring CableNET® '98 at CCTA's Western Show in Anaheim, December 1 - 4, 1998. This year, the theme of the CableNET® exhibit is "Plug and Play. " The CableNET® '98 exhibit, located in Hall D of the Anaheim Convention Center, will cover more than 8,000 square feet, and will host approximately 90 pedestals showcasing and demonstrating the technologies of nearly 60 participating companies, including interoperable cable modems, digital set-top boxes, and Internet phones.
The Service Companies
The Product Companies
Name: Peracom Established: 1997 Stock: NA HomeConnex is an affordable home entertainment network that unites PCs, TVs, audio/video components and set-top devices into an integrated system. HomeConnex delivers the promise of PC/TV convergence through networking, and in the process gives consumers capabilities they've never experienced before.Peracom Networks Inc., known in cable modem circles for its USB- to-Ethernet adpaters, has developed a coax-based home networking solution called HomeConnex. Unlike data-centric home phone line networking solutions, HomeConnex is entertainment oriented, delivering multi-channel video, infrared (IR) remote control streams and high-speed data over coax. In May, Thomson Consumer Electronics agreed to license the technology, providing a big boost for Peracom. More details are available on the Peracom Web site at www.peracom.com.
Peracom is entering the emerging home networking arena with a product that changes the way we view entertainment in the home. HomeConnex goes beyond traditional PC to PC networking by including home entertainment devices such as VCRs, DVD decks, satellite receivers, video cameras and video game stations into an integrated home network system. From any TV in the home users can:
Universal Serial Bus Peracom's flagship line relies on the new USB port standard for "plug-and-play" connectivity, without the need for additional hardware or complex configuration software. Products include:
Contact Information Peracom Networks Inc. HR@peracom.com Suite 105 Cary, NC 27513 USA |