HomePlug AV Technology Announced

They're about 3 years too late. Before wireless "G" networking got to be so popular, they could have made a lot of money. This will likely be a niche product for now.

HomePlug AV technology will revolutionize the way that consumers and service providers think about distributing multimedia entertainment content. HomePlug AV delivers a standards-based connectivity solution enabling simultaneous HD and SD video distribution, whole-house audio, VoIP traffic management and data networking. HomePlug AV delivers this level of performance while providing a stable, robust, secure and easy to use broadband backbone topology in homes on a global basis. For example, with HomePlug AV capability designed into consumer products (such as TVs, audio equipment, computers, and networking gear), a high-definition television show or movie from a PC, PVR or set top box can be viewed on any television in a home – all without running new wiring. This is because HomePlug AV uses the power lines already installed in a home as a path to transmit digital data between devices.

PC World discusses the issue here.

Although HomePlug AV is a promising technology, it nonetheless faces some significant challenges in the marketplace, according to Jonathan Gaw, an IDC analyst who tracks the home networking industry.

Technically speaking, Gaw says, HomePlug AV "offers a real alternative" to other networking technologies--such as coaxial cables used for cable TV, Wi-Fi, and ethernet--that are lining up to serve the still-nascent market for networks that can distribute multimedia in the home.

And HomePlug AV isn't too late to the party, Gaw says. While Wi-Fi has more or less triumphed as the networking technology for Internet sharing, "when it comes to more advanced applications, like sending video or audio over a home network, it's still very early in the game."

But HomePlug suffers from a "poor history" with both consumers and vendors, Gaw says. Some people who tried out early power-line products came away disillusioned when they didn't work well--particularly in buildings with older electrical circuitry. And vendors who were unable to move many HomePlug 1.0 products may be reluctant to try again, even with a new and improved successor.

"Once you have an initial bad run, it's hard to come back," Gaw says. "These guys [HomePlug backers] have a lot of evangelizing to do on both ends."