The Florida-based company L5 Technology has announced the upcoming availability of a hardware add-on that turns any iPhone or iPod Touch into a universal remote for your home entertainment devices.

The system, dubbed the L5 Remote is made up of a tiny 1.5 by .85-inch infrared transceiver that hooks up to the dock connector of the iPhone and an app that provides the necessary user interface to communicate with your favorite appliances.

According to L5, the remote will allow users to design their own visual interfaces using a drag-and-drop approach. However, you'll have to manually assign the functions to the remote by pointing it at the remote of the device you want to control and pressing the button of the desired function.

The L5 Remote serves the same purpose as the universal remotes that Macworld featured in its review roundup last October, except that you will presumably be able to position each key exactly where you want it to be, instead of having to rely on a pre-determined layout.

Interestingly, because the hardware portion of the remote needs to be plugged into the dock connector, the interface of the app is actually flipped upside down so that you can point the IR transceiver at your appliances while pressing a button.

The company claims that the remote will work with iPhone and iPod models of all generations—including the original iPhone—and that it will be able to store and reproduce up to 100,000 button codes in up to 1,000 configurations.

Both the software and the hardware accessory, which does not require any external power source and works by simply plugging it into a compatible device, are slated for release in February. The transceiver is expected to retail for $50, while the companion app will be a free download from the App Store.

Wi-Fi has taken the entertainment device market by storm, with cameras, gaming devices (handheld and consoles), and personal media players (PMPs) incorporating the technology within the past few years, reports In-Stat. Wi-Fi-enabled entertainment device shipments will increase from 108.8 million in 2009 to 177.3 million in 2013.

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

Although the Apple iPod Touch clearly has the dominant Wi-Fi-enabled PMP market share , many vendors have offerings in the space including Archos, Chumby Industries, Com One, Commodore International, Cowon, Creative, Dell, Haier, iriver, Logitech, Microsoft, Mintpass, Nokia, Philips, Polaroid, Revo, SanDisk, Sangean, Sirius, Slacker, Sony, Toshiba, and Venzero.
Nikon shipped 91% of Wi-Fi-enabled cameras in H1 2009.
For the past several years all gaming consoles have had Wi-Fi embedded, which is a trend that will continue throughout the forecast period. The most significant variance in handhelds will be the type of Wi-Fi embedded. Beginning in 2010, these devices will begin shipping with 802.11n, while previously all devices were being shipped with 802.11b.

By combining considerable chip knowledge with excellent system domain knowledge, RTX and SiTel have created a new innovative Ultra Low Power (ULP) technology based on CAT-iq – this is the first step into completely new application areas for DECT/CAT-iq.

RTX and SiTel have joined forces in the quest for new and innovative battery management algorithms. The primary objective in the program has been to obtain a considerable reduction in power consumption in order to extend battery life, for example for cordless phones. The outcome is a new and ground breaking technology - Ultra Low Power (ULP) - with impressive features, and furthermore interoperable with DECT/CAT-iq. Consequently, ULP devices are able to use an already existing DECT/CAT-iq infrastructure; hence reducing risk and complexity in introducing ULP based devices.

 
About Ultra Low Power (ULP) technology
The new and innovative ULP technology targets not only cordless phones but battery powered devices in general - especially applications in which battery life is an essential issue. Consequently, primary application areas for ULP include:

• Home Entertainment and Control devices – smart lighting, wireless door bell, safety and security, advanced temperature control (e.g. HVAC systems)
• Home Awareness – metering, fire and smoke detectors, water and power sensors, smart appliances, remote monitoring, sensor networks etc.
• Advanced Remote Controls – e.g. two-way remote controls for consumer electronics
  

A very central feature in ULP is interoperability with an existing DECT/CAT-iq infrastructure, since this will open up a completely new world of opportunities in which ULP devices can be connected to the Internet or LAN through for example a CAT-iq enabled Gateway or IAD. This is especially interesting in connection with for example remote monitoring applications. Key features of ULP are:

Based on mature and proven technology

• Supports multiple nodes
• Easy and low risk integration path into existing products
• Typical power consumption reduced by a factor 40 over traditional DECT power management algorithms
  

Currently, application profiles are being developed and are to be incorporated into the upcoming CAT-iq V4.0 standard.

“The market is asking for greener products. Certain retail chains start now also to push the issue of sustainability and they measure their suppliers against a scorecard of “green” metrics”, says Arend van der Weijden, CMO at SiTel Semiconductor BV. The solutions of RTX and SiTel semiconductor are leading in this field.

 
Availability and solutions
“RTX is in the process of creating a platform, modules and an SDK (software Develoment Kit) for easy and fast ULP integration and product development”, says Lasse Anker Knudsen, Technical Marketing Manager at RTX Telecom A/S. RTX also offers system design services to product developers who want to integrate the ULP technology into their products or product platforms. Get a head start and benefit from the opportunities in ULP with RTX.

Cisco today announced the Linksys by Cisco Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router (WRT320N), designed for consumers to create a media enabled network at home. Equipped with Cisco's media optimized networking technology, the WRT320N is a great choice for families that demand more from their wireless network. Streaming a movie wirelessly into your living room becomes reality with this latest addition to Cisco's consumer wireless networking portfolio.

Facts/Highlights:

• The new Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router helps users to build a home network that is prepared for multimedia streaming. The router is equipped with Gigabit for wired connections and 802.11n grade wireless operating in either the 2.4GHz wireless band or the wider 5GHz band. The 5GHz band is less crowded then the 2.4GHz band that is used by other devices like DECT phones or microwaves and therefore better suited for carrying latency sensitive data like video and audio.
• The Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router is shipped with Linksys EasyLink Advisor (LELA). LELA helps consumers to get their network up and running and helps keep their network updated and secure. The included set-up CD is compatible with both Macintosh and Windows computers.
• The Linksys by Cisco Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router can be used with Home Network Defender. Cisco recently introduced Home Network Defender together with Trend Micro, a security service that helps protect consumers from web threats. Home Network Defender works at the router level, helping to protect Internet users from inadvertently visiting compromising sites or revealing personal information to predators who operate over the Web. 
• Cisco's media optimized networking technology helps deliver a premium experience when users share and access multimedia content. The WRT320N is designed so that network performance is fine-tuned to give priority to High-Definition video without the need for manual configuration. PC users can customize their networks to give priority to certain devices, like gaming consoles, over others.
• The new Linksys by Cisco product packaging provides more than 40% reduction in waste materials compared to the previously offered packaging. The size of the boxes is reduced, internal packaging is transitioning to more recyclable material, the use of plastic bags is being eliminated where possible and all packaging and internal documents are printed on paper that is made from 80% recycled content and vegetable and soy inks are being used. 
• The Linksys by Cisco Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router comes with an ENERGY STAR certified power adapter that helps reduce power consumption. The energy consumed by the power adapters has been cut almost in half. For example, a router used 4.6 watts of power and a new router with one of the ENERGY STAR certified power adapters can use as little as 2.6 watts of power.
  

• According to Forrester Research the number of households in Western Europe with a home network will grow to 57.9 Million in 2009:
• IDC reported that multimedia networking applications, such as streaming audio or video to a home entertainment system or online console gaming, have made significant steps forward in terms of ease of use and expanded media services. Consumers will also want to view digital video on their televisions, not their PC and computing devices, increasing the use of their home networks. (IDC Worldwide Home Networking 2009-2013 Forecast, March 2009) 
• ABI estimates that in Europe, the market for Media Networks (a home network of connected entertainment devices sharing rich media content) will grow from 6.2 million in 2008 to 20.3 million in 2014. (Home Networking and Digital Home Network Market Analysis, March 2009)

Cisco announced today that Numericable, France's leading cable operator, is delivering highly advanced, on-demand entertainment services to French consumers using the Cisco(R) Content Delivery System (CDS). Numericable can now offer its customers the most advanced video services, including catch-up TV services, access to a catalogue of more than 7,000 programs and movies, high-definition videos on demand and NumeriSPACE, an innovative service for user-generated content (UGC). With video traffic forecast to account for 90 percent of consumer Internet traffic by 2012(1), the scalability of the Cisco CDS will help ensure that Numericable can increase its video delivery capacity whilst optimizing networking costs and maintaining a consistent quality of experience for its 3.5 million TV customers and one million Internet customers.

 
Today's announcement demonstrates the steps Numericable is taking to evolve their network into a medianet , a network optimized for rich media, offering the consumer differentiated experiences with robust broadband connectivity. With solutions like Cisco CDS, Numericable can optimize the scalability, performance and user experience of rich media, especially video. Cisco CDS combined with Quative's service delivery platform (SDP), allows Numericable subscribers to browse and make purchases from the extensive video-on-demand catalogue using a remote control.  Numericable's innovative NumeriSPACE service brings media sharing and social networking to both Web and TV, using Cisco CDS integrated with applications from Eyeka and supported by the Quative SDP. Numericable launched NumeriSPACE in December, where subscribers can share, view and manipulate high-quality UGC photos and videos (uploaded on their computers) from their TVs via the set-top box.

Parks Associates special session at Cable Show presents best strategies for service providers  Connected set-top boxes are growing in popularity, with 33% of all U.S. broadband households interested in this platform, according to Parks Associates. The international research firm notes this news is good for service providers, which have this device at the core of their current service strategies.

“The cable providers have a unique challenge – continuing to innovate at the pace that consumers

are adopting new forms of entertainment technologies that may not currently be available through their provider,” said Richard Bullwinkle, chief evangelist for Macrovision. “Many of the new technologies out in the market now have generated great interest, but for these emerging technologies to be a viable solution for the end consumer, they need to be deployed to the mass market – cable can provide this.”

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