Posts filed under ‘ces’
Wi3 WiPNET: EE Times Top 10 CE innovation gadgets at CES
Top 10 CE innovation gadgets at CES.
More accolades for Wi3 WiPNET, this time from EE Times which selected the Top 10 CE gadgets from the list of 32 Innovations award categories. MoCA networking becomes more popular at the CES show every year and this year will showcase more new MoCA products than ever.
Wi3 MoCA Product Wins CES 2012 Innovations Award: Discovery News
Faster Home Networks Using Coaxial : Discovery News.
CES 2012 Innovations Award Winners
Building on the success of it’s WiPNET product, Wi3 announced that it had won the CES 2012 Best of Innovations Award in the Home Networking category. The WiPNET replaces the coax outlet in your home and is described by Discovery Channel News:
Each patented in-wall sleeve and interchangeable cartridge features two Ethernet ports and is professionally installed in 5 minutes without ripping apart or drilling into sheetrock. Even better, the system is future-proof. As the technology evolves, you’ll be able to customize/upgrade your home media set-up by simply swapping in a new cartridge.
WiPNET has also won 2011 CEDIA Manufacturers’ Excellence Finalist, 2011 Resi Award for Industrial Design, 2011 CE Pro Best Technologies Award, and Communications Technology 2011 Platinum Award. Congratulations to Wi3 and their amazing MoCA-based product.
New MoCA Products Shine at CES
CES 2011 was a stellar event not only for the entire consumer electronics industry, but also for new MoCA products. Over 140,000 attendees crowded the show floors, back to pre-recession levels, to view the latest tablet PCs, smartphones and Smart TVs. Leading the charge of new MoCA offerings were Wi3 and Channel Master both launching new networking products for 2011. Wi3 showed their unique take on the classic MoCA adapter launching a Wallport design which replaces the coax wallplate in the home. MoCA is embedded in the “sleeve” housing that fits into the wall and a “cartridge” containing various ports (coax, Ethernet, HDMI, WiFi, etc…) slides into the sleeve. That way customers can install the sleeves around their home and using a MoCA network backbone, update their network for new functions as they see fit. Wi3 expects to have products available in Q2 through custom installer channels and later in 2011 for retail.
Channel Master Introduces a Line of New MoCA Products
Also making their MoCA debut at CES was Channel Master who introduced 2 new MoCA Ethernet-to-Coax products, a single-port bridge kit and a 4-port bridge. Channel Master might be best known for TV antennas, cable amplifiers, etc… but is now offering many digital products including a DVR and ATSC STBs. Channel Master is branding their adapters for “Internet-to-TV” bridging the link between cable/DSL modem to the living room. Availability is targeted for end of March through Fry’s Electronics, Ace Hardware, True Value, Crutchfield, Walmart.com, CircuitCity.com, CompUSA.com and more retail outlets.
Re-United (and It Feels so Good): Cable and CE Go Back to the Alter
One of the (possibly) monumental announcements from CES 2011 came from the Samsung keynote address where leaders from Samsung, Comcast, and Time Warner demo-ed a Smart TV that connected directly to cable TV services through the Internet without a set-top box. That means that cable customers will be able to receive their HD channels on their tablet/iPad, smartphone and connected TV/Bluray using their home networks. Customers will also be able to access on demand movies and the content stored on their DVRs. Verizon also announced a similar service for their FiOS customers.
Anyone who has ever tried to install a CableCard might be skeptical about another Cable-CE partnership, but this time there might be more than lip service. With the explosion of connected devices and the number of tablet PCs shown at CES (estimated at 50), the cable companies are facing a “we better do it or somebody else will” scenario. Streaming video over the Internet is becoming such a commodity and CableCos have been losing customers, so this move seems to make sense as both a defensive strategy as well as an opportunity to increase subscription revenue. For MoCA, the connection to the Smart TV will likely be through the coax cable to both the broadband as well as DVRs so this would be a big boost. Wireless devices could also be supported using MoCA through MoCA-WiFi Access Points installed in rooms where a strong WiFi signal is needed. We’ll see in the next few months whether this is just CES PR or actually will result in some exciting new services for 2011.
