Harry et all, Home networking is going to be huge,and NT alliance is really strategic.
cnnfn.com
Home networking takes off
Leading tech firms are gearing up for what analysts call the next big thing
February 23, 1999: 6:18 p.m. ET
Sun looks to the future with Jini - Sept. 25, 1998
Home Phoneline Networking Alliance
HomeRF
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - In the age of the Internet, just about everything is connected. Soon, if a number of big-name technology companies have their way, all the devices in your home will be connected, as well.
Analysts say home networking is the biggest untapped market, and it's rapidly becoming all the rage in technology circles.
For now, the biggest driver for the market will be shared Internet access, in which more than one person can share the same online account simultaneously through one phone line and one modem, according to David Paul Doyle, an analyst at market research firm Dataquest.
Home networks catching on
A survey published earlier this year by Boston-based market research firm Yankee Group showed that 30.5 percent of U.S. households with PCs are interested in a way to connect electronic devices in their homes.
Dataquest projects 350,000 U.S. households with more than one PC will be networked this year. The firm expects that number to jump to 1 million households by 2000 and 3.3 million in 2001.
And analysts also note that the number of households purchasing a second PC is growing faster that the market for the purchase of a first PC.
For now, however, standards -- or the lack thereof -- represent a barrier to the widespread growth of home networking. A handful of organizations, most notably the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA), are working with technology companies to adopt standards. But these standards organizations are new and consensus is still a long way off.
HomePNA includes 3Com, Intel, Compaq Computer Corp. (CPQ) and Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) among its members. With such heavy hitters behind it, HomePNA solutions will be a key driver of home networking, according to Doyle.
"People will be able to buy home-network ready PCs, or an adapter for $50, by the end of the year," he said. "You'll see HomePNA products built into modems and motherboards."
A number of wireless networking initiatives are also in the works, enabling such devices as cell phones to remain untethered while being connected to a network. The leading effort at this point is HomeRF, a group comprising 70 companies including Microsoft, Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) and Motorola Inc. (MOT).
Computer makers are among the most active in pushing home networking initiatives.
Uppal said companies like Compaq, which has built home networking technology into its Presario Internet PCs, are primed to take advantage of this growing market.
"I think you'll see PC manufacturers be successful by integrating home-networking features into their products," she said. "Compaq has already done it and you'll see others follow suit."
But Doyle said systems designed under HomePNA standards, such as Compaq's Presario, are designed to make setting up a network little more than a point-and-click process.
"The units we've tested are getting pretty good at making it simple," Doyle said. "They're asking users only two questions: Is this the primary PC, and what do you want to call it?"
And if the industry can keep everything simple, more people may find themselves working as home networking administrators.
-- by staff writer John Frederick Moore
Hiram |
