networking

Whenever we buy a router, we don’t bother to trouble or think about it unless our broadband connection goes down or the router itself is dead; this is something I am guilty of. I recently upgraded my home router after having the previous one for over ten years – wasn’t wireless. The release of the new Nighthawk X6 AC3200 Tri-Band WiFi Router (R8000) from Netgear I think is an ideal router for those with an old router and a mixture of new and old wireless devices in their home. It features the latest in high-speed wireless networking.

More than half of global energy consumers would consider installing connected-home solutions or solar panels in the next five years, or purchasing an electric vehicle in the next 10 years, according to a new survey by Accenture ACN +0.01% .  Interest in connected-home products and services such as energy management and other monitoring and control solutions is projected to rise from seven percent to 57 percent in the next five years, due to the expectation that they will help reduce energy bills, increase comfort and convenience, and enable remote control of home devices.

Fortinet, a global leader in high-performance network security, today released the results of a global survey that probes home owners about key issues pertaining to the Internet of Things (IoT). Independently administered throughout 11 countries, the survey titled, "Internet of Things: Connected Home," gives a global perspective about the Internet of Things, what security and privacy issues are in play, and what home owners are willing to do to enable it.

With just a nine days to go Nucano is hoping to raise $95,000 on KickStarter for their connected home concept appliance, a Smart Door Chime. Dubbed “The world’s first smart door chime” the appliance is pack full of features such as the ability to download your own chime turn, as you would your mobile ringtone. The smart doorbell also acts as a home intelligence hub, by allowing you to connect and control other compatible appliances in your home, said Nucano.

Advanced networking supplier Tecom and set-top box manufacture Prime Electronics have selected Sigma Designs G.hn CG5200 chipset family for a range of new consumer devices.  The Sigma G.hn powerline chipset enables whole-home coverage of Triple play and IPTV over all power lines, coaxial wires and phone lines with MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) to connected devices.

CEA wants manufactures of small home networking devices to sign up to new industry energy measurement protocol. When the association met last week for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Technology & Standards Forum, they announced the appointment of a Network Device Energy Consumption Working Group to help CE manufactures to use the same methods to test their device’s energy consumption.

I don’t know if you knew but I didn’t see this coming, Google might send averts to us via our appliances. In a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) they highlighted the possibility of serving ads and other contents via our refrigerators, car dashboards, thermostats, glasses, watches plus others.

China’s Broadlink Electronic has release range of smart home appliances built on Marvell’s Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The range is base on Broadlink’s “Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle” vision featuring the RM2 Universial Home Controller, A1 Air Quality Monitor and the SP2 Smart-Socket.  Together this range of DIY home automation products allows homeowners to control their television, garage doors, light switches and any connected home appliances.

There is no doubt that the connected home needs an Operating System (OS) or some agnastic software environment to manage its diverse devices and services.  For the last four years the only company that shows any potential in filling this gap was Microsoft with its prototype homeOS platform.  I think this is about to change with the introduction of the Alljoyn platform backed by the Allseen alliance, a new industry body promoting interoperability between devices under the concept of the “Internet of Everyt

Digitization and rapid developments in digital technology has made it possible to collect data on almost anything; this includes biological, physical, mechanical, structural and atmospheric. It also made it easier for us to quantify and connect all of these items so that they communicate, to us or among themselves.  This is where IoT (Internet of Things) comes in, its concepts has raised hope and fears about its possibilities. A major fear is; can we trust the technology to protect our privacy?