Getting It to You
Not many years ago, computer data meant spreadsheets, memos, PowerPoint slide-shows and personal financial information. Today, however, our computers increasingly serve as repositories for gigabytes of media. This creates a dilemma. Computers are commonly found in a work environment, but we'd all like to enjoy our expanding media collections in a more relaxing and comfortable environment. You can't blame anyone in the family for running the other way whenever you suggest looking at digital pictures or listening to digital music in your office.
But what if your computer and your living room entertainment center could talk to each other? What if you could simply push buttons on a remote while sitting on the couch — to cue your tunes, pull up your photos and show your dinner guests the first pitch your daughter made on a softball team?
It'd be pretty nice. This article provides an overview of PC-to-living room networking products. For the most part, we're not talking about the purchase of new computers, or in many cases much additional wiring. Instead, you can choose here between analog transmitter-receiver pairs and a bevy of new products that make use of ethernet cables or airwaves to convey audio and video digitally.
In a typical digital setup, your computer will act as the network server, these new products act as its clients. The clients in turn send their audio and video to TVs and stereos over standard cables. We will refer to digital products capable only of audio reception as audio clients; we'll call those capable of both pictures and sound "a/v clients."
Traveling Audio
Some 15 million people already use digital jukebox software on their computers. Several manufacturers now make it easy for digital audio to make the leap from your stereo system to speakers and screens in other rooms; or from a computer (a good place for storage) to your stereo/TV system (a great place for high-quality sound and picture playback). A few products in the market handle this task with a high-band (2.4 GHz) FM transmitter-receiver pair. The user of these plugs the analog audio output from his sound card into the transmitter; then the analog audio output from the receiver into his stereo receiver. One could similarly send analog video signals from room to room. Another category of products use computer networking technology to move media files from point to point.
Analog Sets
US Robotics' Soundlink is another analog wireless audio delivery system with a transmitter connected to your sound card that broadcasts to a receiver connected to your stereo via a standard RCA audio cable. The 900MHz broadcast range, in theory, runs up to 1000 feet, which should easily allow you to listen to music in your living room. The Soundlink connects to any analog audio source, so it can transmit any noise your computer makes. It is simply a dummy transmitter and receiver, however, and does not interact with the computer.
Terk Technologies makes the Leapfrog WaveMaster 30 system. This 2.4 GHz analog transmitter-receiver set carries audio and video wirelessly from transmitter to receiver, and it adds another useful feature. It carries remote control commands from the receiver back to the transmitter. This system would be most useful in a setup where the audio and video sources are standard audio/video components—stereo receivers and CD players—rather than a computer. One runs an infrared control wire from the transmitter to the stereo receiver. The user can thus control the receiver from the room where he is enjoying the audio or video.
Audio Only
SONICBlue's Rio Digital Audio Receiver uses Ethernet or home PNA wireless networking to stream music from the PC to any network connection. The Rio Receiver supports MP3 and WMA digital audio formats.
iM Networks' iRhythm tuner wirelessly transmits Internet radio or stored MP3 files on your computer to a stereo in a different room. It also supports Windows Media or Real playlists even when using offline.
The Kima Wireless Technologies KS-110 is another device that sends audio from the computer to a stereo receiver or radio up to 1,000 feet away. Simply connect the base unit to the computer's sound card and the receiving unit near the stereo. Tune to one of two FM frequencies and enjoy.
The stereo-link 1200 bypasses the computers sound card and uses USB to digitally transfer music from the computer to a receiver or amplifier. The computer can be up to 80 feet away without loss of audio quality.
Media Clients
RCA offers a very different product in its Lyra Wireless (RD900W) that connects digitally to the computer via a USB port. Superficially, it is similar to the Soundlink in that it broadcasts audio from the computer to a receiver connected to your stereo. The difference is that the RD900W can interact with the computer and remotely select song and play lists, as well as control playback through a remote control. Now you can direct audio from PC to stereo while sitting in the La-Z-Boy. The Lyra Wireless does this through the installation of RCA's companion MusicMatch digital jukebox software on the PC. Once you've organized a few play lists, you can control your audio solely through the remote. The universal remote control allows you easily to cue a CD, play MP3 and WMA files stored on your hard disk or listen to Internet radio accessed through a Web browser. You can even program the Lyra Wireless remote so that you can access your "Night-Relaxing" playlist with a single button. Unless you happen to be in the same room as your computer you won't be able to view your playlist. You can adjust volume, skip through songs or chose music sources.
Motorola's SimpleFi provides slightly more user feedback and control in the living room with a 3-line display screen on the front panel of the receiver unit. You can choose playlists and Internet broadcasts and get instant visual feedback on your selections; this clearly beats programming a remote. Once you install Motorola's SimpleServe software on your PC, you can begin setting up playlists and channels to browse on the SimpleFi's backlit living room display screen.
The software includes a neat feature called TagIt that lets you go to your PC and instantly collect all the detailed information you could possibly want on the songs you tagged. You'll find this particularly useful if you're listening to Internet radio and hearing a song for the first time: you'll discover who the artist is, which CD the song is on and you'll even be offered a direct link to the purchase of the CD. Currently, SimpleFi works with only MP3 music files, and not with increasingly popular WMA music format.
SimpleFi uses a USB transmitter-from-PC connection, and a broadcast protocol known as HomeRF (which operates at the 2.4GHz frequency range) to broadcast between transmitter and receiver.
As you might imagine, SimpleFi costs more than the Lyra Wireless or the Soundlink, but if you have an extensive digital audio collection on your computer or love Internet radio, this may be the better solution to bringing computer audio to the living room.
If your computer already has a wireless WiFi (802.11b) or wired Ethernet connection, CD3O's MP3 Player may be what you're looking for. Despite its name, the CD3O base station handles both MP3 and WMA files and, by connecting it to your existing home WiFi network and to your stereo, you'll have instant access to your PC music library from the living room.
Like many of these products, CD3O's remote control drives the Music Server software for music management and playback on the PC. One unique feature, however, is Voice-Guide, which announces each track and play list, much like a robotic DJ might. Consequently, you can do all of your programming in the living room, with selections presented aurally rather than visually.
Another product you might want to check out is Turtle Beach's Audiotron, which combines some elements of CD3O's MP3 player with some of the Motorola SimpleFi's. The Audiotron's living room base station has a two-line visual display and is intended for connection to an existing Ethernet network or a wired phone line network. Jukebox software manages your PC music library and selecting tracks and play lists is a matter of scrolling and selecting using the included remote.
Pictures With Your Sound
If you're a digital photo aficionado, just bringing digital sound into your living room isn't going to be enough. For you there is another class of products that uses either Ethernet or WiFi network connections to bring pictures from your computer to your TV and that also uses your TV as a monitor for your media management. Note that, because of the bandwidth limitations of today's ethernet and WiFi technology, most of these systems are not capable of conveying moving pictures. However, faster WiFi systems are just now coming into the market, most notably Apple's new Airport. These use the faster 802.11g protocol, and theoretically at least, are capable of carrying a video stream.
Hewlett-Packard's Digital Media Receiver 5000 connects to Ethernet or WiFi networks just like CD3O's players, with the addition that it can manage and display your PC's JPEG, GIF and PNG images on your TV. The base station connects to both your TV and stereo. You use its remote to browse and select your media on the TV screen, which sure beats a two- or three-line LCD display.
The DMR 5000 allows you to print photos with one button push on its remote (you'll need a printer on your network, of course). In addition, you can attach multiple DMR 5000 receivers to the network, enabling the simultaneous access of the same digital photo or audio file throughout the house. In other words, guests in the living room can listen to the same music as guests in the rec room.
Owners of TiVo Series 2 can now order up the Home Media Option, which offers similar features to the DMR 5000. A TiVo owner downloads software both to his TiVo and to his PC, connects the TiVo to an Ethernet or WiFi network and uses the TiVo as a bridge between the PC, TV and stereo. The user can now use the TiVo remote to call up pictures and sound from the computer for enjoyment on the TV and stereo. Two TiVos on the same network can also share TiVo recordings. The Home Media Option won't display video files stored on your PC on your TV and TiVo-recorded video can't be transferred out to the PC.
Prismiq takes PC-to-living-room networking a step further with its MediaPlayer. The MediaPlayer connects to the PC via Ethernet or WiFi, outputs audio to your stereo and outputs still photos, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video to your television. Prismiq's MediaManager software performs the usual file and playlist organizational tasks. Since the MediaPlayer connects to your TV, you make your media selections on your TV, using the remote. Prismiq's receiver also has a Web browser and instant-messaging client built into it, so if your network has Internet access, you can browse the Web, read email and instant-message right on your TV (it might help to buy Prismiq's optional wireless keyboard).
SONICBlue's Go-Video D2370 performs nearly all the tasks that Prismiq's MediaPlayer does (though it doesn't have the built-in browser and IM client) and functions as a DVD player as well. The D2370 uses Ethernet or WiFi to connect to the PC and handles audio files, photo files, and MPEG video files much like the Prismiq. Your television serves as the interface and a handheld remote makes selections. For consumers thinking of getting rid of that early-generation DVD player, SONICBlue's networked DVD player may be the perfect next step.
Finally, owners of Sony VAIO PCs interested in establishing home entertainment networks should consider Sony's RoomLink network media receiver, the PCNA-MR10. Specifically designed to connect the TV and stereo to a VAIO, the RoomLink manages and outputs digital audio, digital photos and digital video, much like the Prismiq and SONICBlue units. In addition, the GigaPocket personal video recorder software for the VAIO enables it to be used much like a TiVo DVR, with the advantage that the VAIO has a much larger hard disk than any TiVo.
End the Separation Between Living Room and Office
The buzz word of the day that describes these products is "convergence." What these products really do is to finally bring the fun part of the computer into our living room, while leaving the rest of the computer in the office where it belongs.
Apple
www.apple.com
(800) MY-APPLE
CD3O
www.cd3o.com
(619) 238-9086
Hewlett-Packard
www.hp.com
(800) 888-9909
iM Networks
www.imnetworks.com
(650) 967-4842
Kima Wireless Technologies
www.kimawireless.com
(312) 368-3060
Motorola
www.motorola.com/simplefi
(650) 356-7000
Prismiq
www.prismiq.com
(866) PRISMIQ
RCA
www.rca.com
(800) 336-1900
SONICBlue
www.sonicblue.com
(408) 588-8000
Sony
www.sel.sony.com
(800) 222-SONY
stereo-link
www.stereo-link.com
(401) 490-5684
Terk Technologies
www.terk.com
(631) 543-1900
TiVo
www.tivo.com
(877) FOR-TIVO
Turtle Beach
www.turtlebeach.com
(800) 233-9377
US Robotics
www.usr.com
(877) 710-0884
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