Digital Lifescapes

The adoption of more internet-connected devices within the home -- such as media tablets and smart TVs -- creates rapidly increasing broadband connectivity demand. As a result, worldwide home network penetration is expected to climb from 24.8 percent in 2013 to 33.2 percent by 2018, according to the latest market study by ABI Research. In particular, growth of home networking applications is driven by the continued spread of broadband services and demand for multi-screen video services. What is seen as commonplace in mature markets, including server provided broadband routers with integrated Wi-Fi access points and leveraging fixed broadband connections to offload expensive mobile data packages while consuming large amounts of content, is slower to move to emerging markets. In some cases, this is driven primarily by low service ARPU while in others it is simply limited fixed broadband infrastructure. "Wi-Fi remains the most important networking technology, but despite an e...

While there's still some competitive battles among powerline communications standards -- such as HD-PLC and UPA -- HomePlug has emerged as the victorious market leader for powerline home networking solutions. In addition to being the leader in the sector, the HomePlug Alliance has also signed liaison agreements with the Multimedia Over Coax Alliance (MoCA), the Wi-Fi Alliance, and the ZigBee Alliance to promote cooperation and interoperability in home networking. That truce, and the resulting cooperation, should benefit both CE manufacturers and consumers. According to the latest market study by In-Stat , HomePlug node shipments will surpass 30 million units by 2014. "HomePlug products are expected to maintain their lead and continue to grow considerably over the next five years. We expect the European region to remain the main target market for HomePlug products, though Asia Pacific will see the highest growth rate over the next 5 years," says Vahid Dejwakh, Analys...

An increase in digital media use and networked devices in the home -- such as media tablets, set top boxes (STB), HDTVs, smartphones, and web-enabled media players -- has generated a much higher interest in and need for capable home network delivery systems. Although Wi-Fi networks are still the most dominant form of home networks, the demand for more bandwidth-consuming applications is causing service providers to turn to wired networking solutions that can deliver higher speeds with more reliability than wireless 802.11x standards. That demand propelled non-Ethernet home networking node shipments past the 40 million units in 2010, according to the latest market study by In-Stat . "Wiring a home with Ethernet is costly and often requires service providers to send out technicians to drill through walls and pull Cat5 cabling," says Vahid Dejwakh, Analyst at In-Stat. Instead, service providers are turning to existing home wiring, which can deliver their network -- such ...

As I mentioned in a recent post , web-enabled consumer electronics (CE) device shipments are forecast to grow six fold -- surpassing 230 million installed units by 2014, with the majority of these in North America and Europe, according to the latest market study by In-Stat. Many people that purchase these CE products have already discovered, and others soon will, that the essential foundation for distributing multimedia content -- particularly high-definition video -- throughout your residence is an adequately provisioned home network. To date, much of the market emphasis on home networking options has focused on the apparent convenience of wireless solutions -- in particular, Wi-Fi multiport routers. If your residence is relatively small and on one level, then the chances of having good wireless signal coverage are likely in your favor. Quest for High Speed and Performance However, signal strength can be negatively impacted by a number of factors, including the construction of...