CES 2008: Wi-Fi (Home Networking)

You don’t have to throw out your router to get blazing fast 802.11n speeds. Netgear’s 5 GHz Wireless-N HD Access Point/Bridge ($129) can be added to any existing network, whether you want to stream high-def video or enjoy online gaming sans the annoying lag.

When you pair two of the units together, you have the HD/Gaming 5 GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit ($229), enabling users to get their game on while simultaneously streaming high-def videos. Because the two pieces of this solution automatically discover each other, you get easy plug-and-play installation and a rock-solid connection between media devices in the living room (like the Xbox, Slingbox, Apple TV, and Netgear’s own Digital Entertainer HD) and your PC or network storage device.

The amount of place shifting devices and services has been overwhelming. Its actually hard to find a company that isn’t doing wireless video streaming in one way or another. But, D-Link’s PC on TV caught our eye. The media player allows users to stream their PC’s video to a TV, either wired or wirelessly.

We like to hear that D-Link understands that the Web-based content out there is pretty damn good. Instead of streaming your TV or DVR to your computer Sling style, you can send YouTube videos and Google Video from the PC without the use of a proprietary media player. Supported are MPEG-4 or any AVI videos or virtually any local video content, and use any media player, such as iTunes, Nero, Windows Media Player, RealPlayer, etc.

The device supports photo viewing at 1280×720 screen resolution and streaming video at 640×480 resolution at up to 30 frames per second. Even better it comes with a mouse-like trackball remote control.

802.11g’s impending irrelevancy has been written on the wall for some time now. For proof, look no further than Netgear’s new 802.11n RangeMax products, just announced this past Sunday at CES. The lineup, which includes two routers, a bridge, networking kit, and USB adapter, is designed for real-time gaming, HD streaming, and high-quality VoIP calls, scenarios where 802.11g falls pitifully short.

For users who want to upgrade to 802.11n either for improved throughput or, as Mark likes to say, to future-proof their notebooks, the RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router ($129) is a good choice with a pretty standard price tag. For thirty dollars more, the RangeMax Wireless-N Gigabit Router is a better option for people who need their router for gaming and media-streaming.

Other upgrades include the 5 GHz Wireless-N HD Access Point/Bridge ($129), which lends high-performance N capability to an 802.11g router, and the HD/Gaming 5 GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit ($229), which provides optimal connections between routers, network servers, and wireless media devices such as XBox, Nintendo Wii, and Apple TV, among others. Finally, the RangeMax Wireless-N Dual Band USB Adapter ($99.99) boosts your notebook’s adapter to N level. All of these devices are backward compatible with 802.11g products.

Archos is known for its killer wireless portable media players, but the company’s looking to bring some of that magic to the living room with Archos TV+, the first Wi-Fi DVR that doubles as a recording box and wireless receiver.

Available with 80GB ($249) and 250GB ($349) hard drives, the Archos TV+ lets users stream audio (MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC with plug-in), video (MPEG-4, WMV, H.264 with plug-in), and photos (JPG, BMP, PNG) from their notebooks to their televisions using their home Wi-Fi networks. In addition, multimedia mavens can wirelessly download content from CinemaNow via the Archos Content Portal, and record up to 700 hours of TV (in 640 x 480-pixel resolution) using the built-in TV Program Guide. Hooking up any of Archos’ Generation 3, 4, or 5 PMPs will let users transfer a two-hour movie in under two minutes when using a USB 2.0 connection. Archos includes a QWERY-styled remote (which you can check out after the jump) and the Opera web browser.

On the topic of Opera, Archos announced the availability of Opera Widgets, which brings seven mini-applications (including a weather forecaster, news reader, and unit converter) to Generation 5 players. In an unexpected swing, Archos is bringing Playin’ TV Games (which requires the Flash plug-in) to the Archos TV+, Archos 605 Wi-Fi, and Archos 705 Wi-Fi. Game packs, featuring titles such as Golf Practice, 3 Pointer Basketball, and Poker: Texas No Limit, will cost $9.99.We’re looking to get all hands-on with these hot products, so check back for more deets as they become available.

We haven’t heard the last of Vonage or the virgin jokes on this blog. The VoIP service introduced today the Vonage V-Portal, a digital voice adapter and single port router with a built-in LCD.

The V-Portal, or VDV21, has a integrated screen which provides customers with installation instruction, real-time feedback, and error messaging, allowing users troubleshoot basic issues. The screen also can be used for Caller ID, timing calls, and to log calls made and received. Users can test their bandwidth, receive network status information, and adjust the brightness of the backlight with the device. In default mode, the LCD displays date and time and lets users know if they have voicemail waiting or if they’ve missed a call.

By plugging the V-Portal into a broadband internet connection, users are given two unique Vonage lines for calling or faxing.

The Vonage V-Portal is available to new customers for $9.99 after a $70 instant rebate. That deal will have you singing that Vonage jingle all night long…

With our notebooks often doubling as digital music jukeboxes, it’s easy to feel tethered to a system when we want to listen to our favorite tunes. Logitech looks to free us from our notebooks with the Squeezebox Duet Network Media Player, a receiver and controller (with a full-color LCD display) that lets you sing along to ditties from virtually anywhere in the house.

Simply hook up the receiver to a stereo system or home entertainment center and stream music from your Mac or PC through the magic of Wi-Fi. Additional Squeezebox Duet systems lets users listen to different songs in each room or synchronize the receivers to hear the same song throughout the house. Even better, Logitech’s SqueezeNetwork, Logitech’s always-on Internet radio and music aggregation service that pulls content from Pandora, MP3Tunes, and Rhapsody, lets Squeezebox Duet owners stream music even when their notebooks are off.

You can expect this dose of $399 freedom in late January. 

Netflix and LG Electronics linked arms today and announced their plans to develop a set-top box that will stream movies and other programming from the Internet to HDTVs. Forget watching Netflix’s selection of 6,000 movies on your laptop – subscribers can watch streamed movies from the Netflix site on their home theater HDTVs.

Can this duo rival the rumored Apple/Fox movie rental service? We are always up for a good doubles match.No details yet on the pricing of the boxes, but LG says networked players are planned to release in the second half of 2008. We would like to see the Netflix service integrated in LG TVs in addition to the set top box option. The announcement according to the press release ”sets the stage for next week’s 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which will emphasize digital content as well as hardware solutions.” We are all set to meet with LG at the show and hope to be hearing more details on the options.

Digital picture frames don’t seem like the sexiest of tech products, but boy are we hearing a lot about them. A search of my inbox came up with ten different vendors showing off recently-announced or brand new digital picture frames at CES. Some of them tout brand XGA, high resolution screens. Others get a bit more fancy like Colby’s Digital Photo Frame that has a Quartz Clock and Mustek’s frame which doubles as an iPod dock.

And NetworkWorld beat me to the punch in talking about digital pictures making their way onto the fridge door. Since magnets were just getting old, Whirlpool is putting screens on their refrigerators.

Some trends sound too good to be true—like wireless on airplanes, Wi-Max being deployed in metropolitan areas, and mobile broadband working in cars, letting you send your music collection through your car speakers. But as it turns out, all of these treasures really are on the 2008 calendar.

American Airlines and Jet Blue are already trying out wireless on their planes. And the inevitable growth of mobile broadband does make car access more realistic.

One company is also predicting the price of mobile broadband to come down, which, in turn, will also make WWAN-enabled GPS a reality, along with HSDPA and EV-DO to be available in mainstream consumer notebooks. Because, really—who ever said only business users want to be connected everywhere?