Diamond banks on home networks
Compaq to include Diamond's HomeFree products in some Presarios.
By Robert Lemos, ZDNN
Multimedia hardware maker Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc. unveiled its second product for networking multiple-PC homes on Tuesday.
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Called HomeFree Phoneline, the 1.15Mbps network solution lets computers send data throughout the home by connecting to a comman phone jack. For about $50 per PC, two or more computers can share a single Internet connection or printer -- the two most common reasons for networking computers in the home, said Robert Jacobson, product manager for Diamond's HomeFree Phoneline group.
"With the growth of the Internet and multiple computers, customers are slowly starting to realize that home networking is a necessity," he said.
Compaq sees networked home
Direct PC maker Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ) thinks home networking is at least a market. On Tuesday, the company announced that it would be using Diamond's (Nasdaq:DIMD) new product to offer its Presario customers the ability to network their PCs.
Diamond's phone-line networking cards can be added to either the Presarios 5600I and 5670 PCs through Compaq's "Built for You" stations at computer stores nationwide.
"Building it into the computer makes a lot of sense for the consumer," said Bruce Kasrel, senior analyst with PC industry watcher Forrester Research Inc. "Because they don't have to deal with installing a card, the scare factor goes down."
DIMD (Nasdaq)
Yet, that's only half of the problem, he warned. "The computer that you have right now still has to be upgraded."
The product should be interoperable with other phone-line networks as well, since it conforms to Version 1.0 of the standard set by the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance, of which Compaq is a founding member.
Two networks, one home
The product continues Diamond's push in home networking.
In late 1998, the San Jose, Calif.-company released its HomeFree Wireless solution that networks two or more PCs at up to 1Mbps. Wireless is useful for homes that don't have phone jacks in every room, but comes a bit of a premium, about $100 per PC.
According to Kasrel, both types of networks can work. "Consumers don't care which network type they are using -- they just want their networks," he said. "For the typical home consumer, they probably have phone jacks in the room with the PC, so price is going to be the deciding factor."
HomeFree Phoneline will start shipping later in January.
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