The scoop: Vulkano Deluxe Pro (500G), by Monsoon Multimedia, about $380
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home networking
Sonos Play:3 smaller in size, price
$299 for wireless music player that can “play anything”
Submitted by Keith Shaw on Wed, 07/20/11 - 11:36am.
I’ve been covering Sonos since the company began in 2003, fascinated with its wireless music players and high-end audio systems. Back then, owning a system that could play multiple streams of music in multiple rooms (or the same song in many rooms) could cost $1,000 or more, putting it out of reach for many consumers. With today’s announcement of the $299 Play:3 wireless player, the company is allowing more people to enjoy the Sonos experience.
Most IPv6-certified home network gear is frightfully buggy
Submitted by Julie Bort on Fri, 03/04/11 - 8:18pm.The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab held an IPv6 consumer electronics Plugfest a couple of weeks ago and CableLabs has scheduled two more for this year. The Lab is tight-lipped about the results, but the sad fact is that most home routers and DSL/cable modems certified as IPv6-compliant by the IPv6 Forum are so full of implementation bugs that they can't be used by ISPs for IPv6 field trials, some ISPs are reporting. Read more
Cisco invests in home automator
Control4 could be key to utility/home architecture
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Tue, 02/15/11 - 9:48pm.
Cisco has invested in Control4, a maker of home automation and energy products. This could be what CEO John Chambers was alluding to when he mentioned linking home network architectures to the smart grid during Cisco's Q2 conference call. Read more
New Cisco Linksys wireless router boosts multimedia performance
Linksys E4200 dual-band router expands wireless range, adds USB port for storage
Submitted by Keith Shaw on Wed, 01/19/11 - 9:47am.
With more home users adding multimedia devices (any non-PC device that can connect to the Internet, such as TVs, set-top boxes, even iPads) to their home networks, the bandwidth requirements and performance needs are increasing as well. With that in mind, Cisco today announced an update to its Linksys brand of home wireless router, the E4200 Maximum Performance Dual-Band Wireless-N Router. The router is now available for $179.99 at Best Buy locations, BestBuy.com and Linksys’ Web site, with availability at other retailers over the next few months.
Keith's rating: 
Keith vs. the Vulkano
By Keith Shaw on Wed, 12/15/2010 - 12:00am.
Cisco's umi gets panned
Home TelePresence system just too pricey for a mass videochatting market that doesn't exist
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Thu, 10/07/10 - 12:10pm.
Cisco's new umi home TelePresence system has apparently missed the mark. It is being panned by analysts as a pricey luxury in search of a market - beyond the deep pocketed niche that might be the only one that can afford it. Read more
Cisco unwraps home TelePresence
Umi will cater to the high end video chatter who scoffs at Skype
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Wed, 10/06/10 - 6:15pm.
As expected, Cisco this week unveiled a home/consumer version of its TelePresence system: the umi. The $600 system lets people in their living rooms use their HDTVs and Google Video Chat to converse with friends and family in the far reaches.
Stephen Lawson of IDG New Service has our coverage here. Read more
ZoneAlarm adds more stuff to its Free Firewall
DefenseNet updates can allow/block programs without annoying pop-ups
Submitted by Keith Shaw on Mon, 05/24/10 - 3:46pm.
If you are managing a lot of computers in your home office environment, chances are you’re using a free firewall product, and it’s probably from CheckPoint’s ZoneAlarm division. If you do, there’s good news today, as the company has announced a new version with updated features and "more stuff" to consider.
The company has added its DefenseNet service (already available on its Pro versions), which analyzes malware automatically reported by ZoneAlarm’s community of millions of users. Once a new program is determined to be good or bad, the information is shared with other users through the cloud, and immediately blocks or allows without needing program alerts or interruptions.
Cisco summons Valet
New home wireless products designed to make networking even simpler
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Wed, 03/31/10 - 5:03pm.
Cisco this week unveiled Valet, a line of home wireless networking products designed to make installation, configuration and operation even easier than it already is. Linksys routers already have color-coded cables and step-by-step configuration software that seem pretty simple to follow, but perhaps even this is too complicated for some customers. Read more
Keith's rating: 
Cool products, companies at DEMOfall 09
By Keith Shaw on Tue, 09/22/2009 - 11:00pm.
The DEMOfall 09 show in San Diego showcased more than 60 companies offering pitches of new companies and products aimed to make your life better, whether as an individual user or at your company. Here are a few of my favorites:
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Video "Webisodes" show Cisco-equipped digital homes
'Digital Cribs' highlight home use of consumer technology, networks
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Thu, 06/25/09 - 5:04pm.
Cisco this week released three "Webisodes" of people using its home networking and consumer technology to live a digital life. The 'Digital Cribs' Webisodes feature "tech-savvy trend-setters" using the Cisco products to enhance their home life. Read more
Cisco: virtualization is homeward bound
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Thu, 05/14/09 - 1:10pm.During Cisco's third quarter conference call last week, CEO John Chambers talked about Cisco's intention of bringing virtualization all the way from the data center into the home. Hey, is that really my cat???
First of all, what is a virtualized home and why would we want it? Colin Dixon, broadband media practice manager at market tracker The Diffusion Group, has an interesting take on this in his blog.
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Cisco in the home: Anonymous or poised for domination?
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Fri, 01/30/09 - 6:07pm.
Larry Hettick, a principal analyst at Current Analysis, and co-author of Network World's Convergence and VoIP newsletter, spent some time with Cisco at the recent Consumer Electronics Show where the networking giant detailed its desire to push further into the home networking space. Could Cisco dominate the consumer space as it has the enterprise space? Read more
Windows 7 news roundup -- skim this and be in the know
Submitted by Microsoft Subnet on Fri, 01/09/09 - 4:38pm.Updated 01-26-09:
Google News lists tens of thousands of Windows 7 stories published in the past couple of weeks. What more is there to say about the beta operating system? And how much do you have to read before you know what you need to know? Truth is, not much. So at Microsoft Subnet we offer you what you really need ... a roundup of the news important to the enterprise. Here goes ... Read more
Linksys Network Magic helps consumers make like networking pros
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Fri, 10/17/08 - 7:09pm.Barely three months after its acquisition of home networking vendor Pure Networks, Cisco's Linksys division has rolled out its first Pure Networks products. Network Magic 5.0 is aimed at enabling the average Joe to setup, manage and secure home networks like an IT pro, according to the pitch. The software comes in three flavors: Essentials for basic fun Read more
Cisco aims to make it easier to work from home
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 12:32pm
Cisco is aiming its new bundle of gear and services at companies that want to set their employees up to work from home. With fewer workers on the road on their daily commutes Cisco is doing its bit to help Read more
save the planet - and to sell new gear at the same time. Called Cisco Virtual Office (CVO), the package includes IP phones and multiservice routers to be placed in home offices or branch offices and linked to corporate headquarters. And of course, Cisco doesn't just sell technology to let people work from home - it also sells technology for their recreational time too.
Cisco invests in semiconductor maker for Wi-Fi home networks
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Mon, 07/28/08 - 9:58pm.Cisco has shelled out some more cash in the home networking market, this time a strategic investment in Celeno, a maker of semiconductors for multimedia Wi-Fi home networking applications. The Israeli company announced it has closed a $16 million Series C investment led by the networking giant.
This is the blurb about Celeno on Cisco's press release: Read more
Cisco buys Pure Networks for Linksys division
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Wed, 07/23/08 - 4:30pm.Cisco has dug a little into its pocket to purchase privately held Pure Networks, a Seattle-based provider of home networking-management software and tools. Pure Networks, which will be integrated into Linksys, enables consumers to set up a home network connecting a range of devices, applications and services, says Cisco. Pure already partners with Cisco to provide the software infrastructure and tools used to create the Linksys Easy Link Advisor (LELA), aimed at smoothing the process of organizing and managing a home network, according to Cisco. Read more
New dual-N band Linksys router geared for multimedia home networking
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Thu, 07/03/08 - 12:36pm.Cisco subsidiary Linksys introduced a new wireless router today, tailored to the needs of home digital media content especially high-def video. What's cool about the new WRT610N is that it is a simultaneous dual-N band wireless router that operates in both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz spectrums. Users can connect entertainment-oriented devices, such as a media center extenders, audio players or personal video recorders via the wider 5GHz band.. Read more
Panasonic joins Cisco to invest in home control wireless mesh maker
Submitted by Jim Duffy on Wed, 03/26/08 - 7:25pm.Panasonic joins Cisco and others as the latest investor of Zensys, which makes the Z-Wave wireless home control wireless mesh networking technology "that allows a wide array of devices in and around the home to communicate including lighting, appliances, HVAC, entertainment centers, and security systems," according to the company. Other investors include Intel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Palamon Capital Partners and Sunstone Capital.
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