Here comes the capacity to carry digital vidio to the home...
By Samuel Perry PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov 2 (Reuters) - Diamond Multimedia Systems plans to unveil on Monday a proprietary technology it says can double the speed of current analog Internet links by using two standard phone lines at once.
That capability, which Diamond dubs Shotgun, provides speeds up to the 112 kilobits per second (Kbps) speeds -- double the 56 Kbps speeds of the fastest analog modems that have only begun to be widely available this year.
A modem is the device used to connect stand-alone computers to telephone lines so they can communicate with the worldwide computer network known as the Internet.
Diamond boasts second place in sales of computer modems behind US Robotics, which was acquired earlier this year by networking company 3Com Corp <COMS.O>.
Such speeds for residential Internet connections have previously been available only through costly and hard-to-obtain ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) lines or through very limited cable modem deployments.
The technology, which is built into Diamond software and can run on its own existing SupraExpress 56K modems, will be on view at this month's Comdex trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, but not in products until early next year.
The company and analysts declined to discuss pricing, but industry executives said they expect the capability to be sold in modems for under $200 and in upgrade kits for significantly less than that for SupraExpress 56K owners.
One of the key features of the technology is that it only uses the second telephone line during peak usage, and it allows incoming and outgoing telephone calls on the second line while maintaining the first line connection.
Diamond said that according to International Data Corp, the market research firm, one in four of the 100 million U.S.
households already have multiple telephone lines, a figure due to reach 30 million in three years.
Diamond, which uses Rockwell International's <ROK.N> K56flex 56Kbps modem technology, said it developed the technology in partnership with Ascend Communications <ASND.O>, lining the two up against 3Com's rival x2 56Kbps technology pioneered by US Robotics.
The industry is now trying to hammer out a standard for 56 Kbps modems, and analysts said Diamond was jumping the gun in a similar way on an industry effort to develop a standard for line "bonding" technology like Shotgun.
For instance, a potentially confusing issue for customers interested in using the Shotgun technology is that users need to be connected with an Internet service provider who uses Ascend equipment, analysts said.
"I think Shotgun is very elegant in that it allows a second line and lets a person pick up a second line (to talk on the phone) so you do not disrupt your phone line or Internet service," said Walter Miao, an analyst at Access Media International in New York.
"As much as they may have the elegant solution, you've got to make something that's going to an industry standard," Miao said. "I think there's going to be some confusion out there."
Miao noted, however, that more than 70 percent of Internet service providers are Ascend customers.
sam.perry@reuters.com
15:53 11-02-97
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