Feature: Contributed Article

As the new millennium gets underway, the home electronic technology landscape will be changing radically. First, the age of the Internet is here. If you don't already have home Internet access, it is a good bet that you will in the next year or so. The most common means to access the Internet has been through the home personal computer. However, most home products are integrating new and exciting ways to access the Internet and make use of its' vast stores of useful information. In very short order the PC will not be the only Internet access device in the home. Nearly every home appliance will be an Internet-enabled device.

In addition, consider the fact that a whole new generation of users in young people are cropping up that will grow up connected to the Internet. Their need to access and share information instantaneously will further drive the need for "connections" all over the home. Shared video, audio, data, voice, and the like will be commonplace. The need to have them where I want them, when I want them, how I want them will be the benchmark of the satisfied user community the world round. Thanks to personal computers this new age of information sharing has arrived in a big way. Add to this Internet event in the home the advent of high- resolution color printing, and you can begin to imagine just how far this Internet connected product evolution will go in providing high quality content to the home. Today, some printers are stand-alone Internet devices. They can browse the web, find a site, and deliver that image directly to a printed page without ever having to turn on a computer. With color inkjet printers now well under the $100 price point, it will not be uncommon to find multiple printers around the networked home.

And then there is digital television, or DTV. This technology includes High-definition television (HDTV), which most people, who have seen it, agree is very compelling. However, current price tags - many of which are well into the several thousands of dollars - excludes most families on a budget. Perhaps as soon as the end of this year, standard (4:3 aspect ratio) TV sets that can receive both DTV as well as current analog TV signals should become available for about $500 retail. DTV also supports digital audio. Digital audio brings a new dimension of sound to the home environment. A digital audio/video (A/V) system that decodes Dolby™ Digital and Digital Theater Sound (dts™), as well as amplifying CD sound and standard stereo audio, sold for about $2,000 less than two years ago. Today's A/V system with these features can be purchased for under $500.

Finally, there are the set-top boxes. This is the little box that currently sits on top of many TVs and allows you to access one of the few dozen channels you pay a cable or satellite service provider to view. Up to this point, set-top boxes have been largely unidirectional and, for the most part, non-interactive. Currently, you can receive a program, maybe an email from your provider, or order a movie that plays at a certain time of day or night. In the very near future, you will start to see a great deal of interactivity from these products. It can now enable video-on-demand movies, email, Internet, games, music, play a DVD, be a video telephone, and perform all of the Internet access functions of a PC such as banking online, shopping online and just plain surfing the web. With the development of the interactive digital set-top box, the DTV and digital audio equipment, a new center in the home emerges where one can access the Internet, play a game, and be entertained. The living room will begin to replace the home office as the place where many of these events are performed.

A large amount of "content" (movies, music, games, sports, TV) is becoming available for in home viewing. This content can be monitored and controlled by the homeowner by a fingerprint-reading remote unit, insuring that their children do not have access to inappropriate content. Also, high-speed communication options will be offered to the homeowner soon. Satellite, cable and telephone providers will be competing for this new burgeoning market of home entertainment, communication and productivity. Homeowners will have the pleasant option of equipping their homes with the electronic technology to access the content they want at affordable prices.

There is one piece to this puzzle missing. As with any business, for a fee, the service providers will gladly send all of their wonderful movies, games, music, sports, TV and high-speed communications right to the door (or wall) of the homeowner. What then? How do you get it from this point (called the residential gateway) to the set-top box in the living room, the DTV in the den or bedroom, the home theater in the family room, and the computer and printer in your home office? Laying wire on the floor or nailing it around on the corner of the ceiling is a non-starter. Pulling wire or cable through the walls and ceiling can typically require an average of 4.5 person-hours at rates of $40 - $90 per hour, depending upon your region.

The solution is a low-cost, high-speed wireless system that communicates with all of the computer and entertainment appliances in the home. This system is well along in development now and will be available in the very near future. Imagine a home where every device is connected to every other device in the home - with no wires. Imagine speakers that don't need to be tethered to a stereo for audio distribution and TV's that don't have to be cabled where the outlet is in the wall. No longer will one have to go through the maze of cabling TV's, set-top boxes, A/V receivers, and speakers together. Wouldn't it be great to deliver an acquired image (whether for the TV, the PC, a digital camera, a digital camcorder or a Internet- enabled stove top) to a printer no matter where that printer is in your home? The day is coming when high speed Internet access (300Kb to 1Mb/sec) can be distributed throughout the home without the need to run an Ethernet cable through. Shortly, everyone will be taking the video-on-demand movie with them around the home on a portable, handheld, battery operated video screen that will also be able to receive the video conference call from the relatives around the world, or just browse the web. All of this will be possible within the next of couple of years with the availability of high bandwidth, high speed, wireless in home networks.

In addition to content from a service provider, home systems like this will also enable a new level of communication and interconnectivity among the home, office and car. You'll soon be able to take your home network with you wherever you go. The possibilities will only be limited by the imagination.

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