OTHER TECH

The TiVo video hard-disk recorder (HDR) can now talk to clones of itself sprinkled throughout your home. Denon's forthcoming network server will do it all, from recording TV to a hard drive to ripping CDs, and it even has two TV tuners (see page 81). And expect a flood of wireless TVs that play video broadcast to them via Wi-Fi. There are even systems that create closed, self-contained networks. The server in Yamaha's MusicCAST Wi-Fi multiroom audio system (reviewed in September 2003) has its own hard drive and Internet access, and it wirelessly talks to several "client" music systems at once - all without a computer.

The PC companies have distinctly different visions of the connected home. Microsoft sees a computer in every living room. That computer (running Windows XP Media Center) downloads songs, records TV shows, and handles home automation. Plug in a big-screen TV and some speakers, and you're done. A PC/TV might talk to traditional A/V devices, but it would also take over their functions, acting as the server for the home theater. Microsoft calls it an eHome solution.

Apple sees a somewhat different future, a digital lifestyle in which computers are just one player among many devices. Macs stay on the desktop, acting as hubs for diverse digital-media peripherals such as camcorders, iPods, and DVD burners. Apple calls it iLife.

Whatever it's called, and whoever makes the technology, the promise of the connected home is growing clearer every day. Broadband-connected products will make it easier to access and enjoy your entertainment.

When Fred Flintstone wanted to listen to music, he placed the tip of a bird's long, pointed beak in the groove of a record, and the disc spun on the back of a turtle. Today, broadband combined with home theaters and digital media are making the connected home a reality. Whether its logo says Sony or Dell (or a dozen other names), imagine owning a box with several terabytes of storage capacity that holds your movie, music, and game collections, along with your home video and photo files. The box has broadband access and can download anything the Internet has to offer. Your home is filled with screens and speakers, and you use computers, handheld devices, touchscreens, or other wired and wireless controllers to acess any kind of entertainment you desire anywhere in the house. With true Jetsonian élan, you can press a button on your networked alarm clock and wake up to any song ever recorded. Either that, or you can buy a turtle.