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From:

ABCNews

All Wired Up
Making Home Entertainment Networking Easier

By Paul Eng

June 10? It’s a couch potato’s Garden of Eden.

In the smart home of the future, media buffs could download the latest hit movie
off the Internet at the touch of a button. Another tap of the remote control
could send video from their last vacation winging its way to friends and family.
And surfers could easily follow their whims to find the latest hit song or
installment of Survivor.

That’s long been the dream for consumers and high-techies alike. And with an
expected fivefold increase ahead in the number of homes with networked
computers, the prospects for the wired home are more real than ever.

But there’s a snake in this paradise. And it’s not just the yards of wires and
cables that can entangle even the most intrepid weekend warrior.

It’s the baffling barrage of conflicting home entertainment standards that come
with attempts to join TVs, DVDs, VCRs and audio equipment into a complex home
theater system.

Try to add in the home computer, the latest electronic beast with its own
standards and complexities, and total confusion is bound to reign.

Read all @

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/FutureTech/wiredhomes030610.html