The Networked World Arrives
Office vs. Living Room
Personally, I love to watch movies and listen to music. I have a big television and a nice stereo that I've spent years picking components for, but I'm still listening to MP3s and watching a lot of downloaded video on my computer. Why subject myself to a fifteen inch monitor with tinny speakers? First, my television won't play Windows Media files, my stereo doesn't get my favorite streaming Internet Radio station and doesn't know what to do with an MP3. Second, my computer's upstairs in the office, where it should be, and the TV's down in the living room, where it should be. But, honestly, there's no reason for me to be listening to a pair of one-inch speakers in my office when I have a 40-watt active subwoofer that can peel the paint off the furniture in the living room.
2004 has seen a lot of manufacturers rolling out audio/video (A/V) clients. These are devices that connect your home computer network to your entertainment center, bridging the gap between the new media and your old media system. A/V clients act as interfaces which not only translate different file formats, but also allow your home stereo or theater system to browse and manage gigabytes of media. You can even connect to true antiques, so long as they have an audio or video input.
Forcing Hollywood's Hand
People just don't want to watch movies on their computers. (If you are someone who does, just admit it: you are probably a bit geeky.) But with AV clients now sitting between the computer and the home theater, downloading movies from Movielink or CinemaNow or peer-to-peer file sharing tools like KaZaA and Limewire becomes much more attractive. Installing an A/V client in your home lets you experience a kind of video on demand while sitting on your sofa. The programs get to you by way of the Internet and your computer, but you watch them on your TV screen.
You can use your computer as an A/V server downloading and storing a number of movies from a queue, and keeping a list of titles ready for watching at all times. As each film is viewed, you could delete it to make way for the next.
The Spectrum of A/V Clients
There are already many products to choose from. Let's take a look at a few representative samples. Denon is thinking big when it envisions the A/V client as the central part of a home entertainment system. Capable of serving multiple sources to multiple rooms at the same time, their Multimedia Networking System includes a server (the NS-S100) with two hard drives, independent DVRs (digital video recorders), dual standard cable TV tuners (so you can watch one channel and record another), a music server, a pair of FM tuners, built-in CD player with automatic MP3 ripping and title lookup. The system is capable of streaming four individual DVD quality signals over a home networking. The system also includes a client (NS-C200) unit (starting at $1,000).
Throw Out Your CDs
Turtle Beach will let you put all of your CDs in storage. The AT-100 turns your home computer into a jukebox, allowing you to create playlists, easily find songs, burn custom CDs, and listen to Internet radio on your home stereo system. You can install multiple AT-100s throughout your network and stream audio from your PC in different rooms at the same time. It retails for $250.
MP3s in Your Car
James Bond will be jealous of your wired car if you install the Omnifi DMP1 by Rockford. With a street price of $450, the Omnifi is a WiFi capable device that connects to your home network when parked nearby and downloads your mp3 music files onto a twenty gigabyte hard disk jukebox, which sits in your trunk. The unit also includes an FM stereo and a dash-mounted control unit.
Video You Can Carry with You
Sony's Airboard is a 12-inch portable display that looks an awful lot like the one David Bowman is carting around in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It consists of a portable LCD screen and a base station which connects to your home entertainment system and allows you to watch movies, television or listen to music. You can even check your email or browse the Internet.
When you're not using it in the kitchen so as not to miss a minute of the movie while fetching popcorn for your guests, you can set it on a shelf and use it as a digital picture frame or a 12 inch playback monitor for your video camera. Sony is planning a fall release and isn't talking about price yet; though the original Airboard rolled out in Japan in 2000 for about $1,100.
Two in One: Go Video's D2730 Networked DVD Player
Go Video, famous for its Dual Deck VCRs and DVD players weighs in with a networked DVD player which won Popular Science's award for Best of What's New in 2003. Apart from acting as a high-end DVD player, the Go Video Networked DVD player streams movies in a variety of formats, including MPEG-1, 2, and 4, stills, and audio (WMA or MP3) through a wired or wireless network from your computer to your home entertainment center. It also boasts out-of-the-box easy plug-and-play operation. It sells for about $299.
The Networked Future of Your House
From the time that Thomas Edison scratched out his first recordings and opened the shutter on his first motion picture, the way that audio and video were stored and sent hasn't changed very much until very recently. You don't have to possess a physical object anymore to transport pictures and sound, and you can view or listen in multiple locations at the same time. Computers provide convenient storage and sorting of media files while your existing home entertainment system has yet to be beaten as the best way to enjoy them. If your television and your stereo are networked, why not the rest of your house? Why not have your PC control your thermostat, your digital picture frame, your burglar alarm or your fridge? In the coming months home networks and home entertainment systems will collide and stay that way allowing easier access to our data from multiple places; home, work, car, and portable. The manner in which audio and video information is stored and sent has forever changed. Come on now, my parents have a computer network in their house, it's time you did too.
[Sidebar: Setting up a home network: what do I need?]
In order to set up a network, you need three things:
1) An Internet Connection A high speed Internet connection is best, such as DSL or Cable. You can do it with a low speed one, such as a modem; just don't come crying to me when it's slow.
2) A router (or "hub") This is a device which acts as an interface between your Internet connection and the computers and other network devices in your house. Think of it as an Internet connection splitter. You have one Internet connection coming into the house (your DSL or cable line) and the router splits that signal into four or eight or more signals. Typically routers you buy today over the counter (starting price is about $60) support either wired and wireless (WiFi) connections.
3) Some network-ready computers or other network clients Typically, people have a desktop computer connected to their Internet connection. Additionally, you might have a laptop that you sometimes connect (again, either wired or wireless) and maybe a second desktop machine in the kid's room or the home office. By "network ready" I mean computers which are ready to be connected to a network by way of an "ethernet card."
That's the basic network. Now, add to this an AV client. This will allow you to connect your home entertainment center to the network. Your viewing and listening pleasure will increase accordingly. Right now when I buy a compact disc, one of the first things I do is "rip" it to mp3 music files. This allows me to transfer my favorite songs to my portable mp3 player, to bring them to the office and store them on my computer there, essentially, to make them portable. An A/V client playing the mp3 files on my computer through my stereo at home would make the actual CDs superfluous while allowing me to listen to my music wherever I was.
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