Consumers want electronic devices that work together and share content seamlessly, said Bob Gregory, Director of Initiatives Planning, Desktop Platforms Group at Intel, speaking at Parks Associates' Home Multimedia Experience event in San Jose. Today, technology in the home is isolated in islands. The PC is in the den, stereo equipment and the TV is in the family room. Products are only just starting to bridge the gaps and Intel is betting that there is a great opportunity in home networking. Intel envisions an ecosystem of solutions and choices from a variety of companies. Gregory said that vendor specific solutions are unwise and will stall development of the market. Gregory predicts four waves of innovation:
- Digital devices and content (cameras, mp3 players)
- Content on extended home networks (music to stereo, photos to TV)
- Broadband broadcast content (premium content and services)
- Interoperable networks (to any home device, with multiple media streams)
However, Gregory conceded that for the home networking market to really take-off, much more work needs to be done. Today's home networks are still difficult to set up and operate. System vendors should assume that consumers will return networking products if they do not work when they are plugged in. Networking systems will be used in a myriad of home environments, and must work in them all, which will require more design and testing work. In addition, typical consumers still don't have a good sense of what can be done in a home multimedia network. The industry needs to educate consumers about what is possible, which will help the adoption of home multimedia networks.
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