Can anyone explain the significance of this "HomePlug" announcement with respect to ELON? Is this direct competition, or is ELON somehow involved?
April 10, 2000
Firms Aim to Connect Home PCs,
Devices Using Electric Outlets
By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter
SAN FRANCISCO -- Thirteen high-tech companies said they will work together to develop and promote technology for connecting computers, printers and other devices through a home's electrical lines. The group, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, hopes to develop a technology standard that could be incorporated into consumer products by year end.
The effort is one of several competing technologies for creating cheap, simple home networks to allow computers to share files, games, printers or an Internet connection the way office computers do. The HomePlug group is several years behind similar efforts that use ordinary telephone lines or wireless connections. In fact, some HomePlug members already sell other home-networking devices.
HomePlug backers said they will be competitive with the other efforts, because there are far more electric outlets than phone outlets in a typical home. In addition, backers said, using electric lines will make it easier to incorporate devices other than computers, such as game players and hand-held organizers.
"This is an extremely compelling solution and has a huge market potential," said David Martella, a vice president of the Radio Shack unit of Tandy Corp., a founding member of the alliance.
Other members are chip makers Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Conexant Systems Inc., Enikia Inc., Intellon Corp., Motorola Inc., S3 Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc.; computer-networking-equipment makers Cisco Systems Inc. and 3Com Corp.; computer maker Compaq Computer Corp.; and consumer-electronics maker Panasonic, a unit of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. of Japan.
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