Home networks plus devices don't equal multimedia networking

Although multimedia devices are clearly out there in households today -- and so are home networks -- multimedia home networking isn't exactly commonplace yet, observed analysts at In-Stat, concurring with views expressed by some other analyst firms, as well.

Network-capable multimedia devices already in place inside homes include game consoles along with Windows Media Player-enabled PCs, media servers, digital media receivers/players, and digital media adapters, according to Joyce Putscher, an In-Stat analyst.

But so far, game consoles are seeing more action on home networks than any other equipment, Putscher suggested.

Also, when consumers do use built-in home networking capabilities, it's generally done for sharing Internet connectivity, instead of for streaming audio and video throughout the home.

Meanwhile, about 30 percent of US households do have home networks, either wired or wireless, according to Sean DuBravac, an analyst at the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Another 51 percent of US households are enabled for broadband -- although many broadband users are still "newbies" -- and around 26 percent of these households have home theaters, DuBravac said.

Aside from broadband wide area connections, existing home network links include Ethernet, WiFi and HDMI local area connections; WiFi hotspots; emerging WiMax wide area networks; and RF (radio frequency) and Bluetooth personal networks, for example.

But DuBravac told BetaNews that consumers with home networks are still largely playing "sneakernet." For instance, lots of households today download a video on to a single device, burn it on to a CD, and then tote it by hand to another spot in the house for playback.

As the CEA analyst sees it, improvement is on the way in the form of new technologies from vendors aimed at easing the integration of multimedia devices on home networks.

In-Stat's Puscher, on the other hand, emphasizes a need to raise consumer awareness as to the capabilities of multimedia devices.

But in a report issued today, In-Stat also projected strong worldwide growth in the numbers of both home networks and media server equipment. Microsoft has released its Windows Home Server for this exact purpose, but its adoption has been slow thus far.

Global home networks with at least one PC and one other networked CE device will just about double between 2007 and 2008, according to In-Stat's research.

Meanwhile, worldwide shipments of media server-capable devices are projected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 43 percent between 2006 and 2011, In-Stat says.