Intel Corp today takes the wraps off its first line of home networking products, a hardware adapter that enables home users to connect two or more PCs together to share access to the internet, peripherals and files. The chip giant said that the product, AnyPoint, enables users to network their PCs using standard telephone cables. Intel first announced it was working on a silicon phone line product at its developers conference in October and today’s announcement marks the first products to be launched based on the technology. Dan Sweeney, general manager of Intel’s home networking operation, said the AnyPoint device connects to a user’s PC via its parallel port, or there’s also a PCI version which can be installed internally, within a PC expansion slot. Once connected to the PC, the AnyPoint device then links, via a standard phone cable, into the phone jack. It also includes additional ports for a printer and telephone connection.
Each PC will also need to have special software installed, but Sweeney said Intel had gone to great lengths to make the process as easy as possible. To that end, it only requires users to name the particular PC from which they are working, as well as nominating a central PC through which all users can share the internet connection. The software makes use of the built in networking functionality with Windows 95 and 98 to link the PCs, he added. The solution will only allow networking speeds up to 1Mbps but a 10Mbps version will be available in early 2000. Successive PCs, up to 25, can be linked together and provided they are attached to the same phone line, users can share internet access, peripherals and files or play multipart PC games.
As part of the announcement, Intel said it has signed an exclusive deal with CompUSA to sell the hardware, as well as two partnerships with IBM Corp and Gateway 2000, who will bundle the networking kits with their consumer PC products. Users can also buy AnyPoint direct from Intel’s web site, Sweeney said. He added that Intel intends to release a USB version later this year. Intel is the latest in a line of vendors to announce products to take advantage of the growing market for home PCs; approximately 17 million US homes have multiple PCs and that figure is expected to double by 2004. Last month, networking giant 3Com Corp unveiled a partnership with Microsoft to develop similar kits and more recently, Lucent’s Microelectronics group said it was partnering with Epigram Inc to develop its own home networking chip. The aim of each vendor is to get its technology established as the standard within the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA).
Unlike the other vendors, who are also developing home ethernet solutions, Intel said it will only provide products that utilize standard telephone cables. Sweeney said the decision was based on a survey of 1,200 multiple-PC homes. We found that most of the consumers we spoke to didn’t want to go through the hassle of digging into their floors and walls to lay down additional ethernet cabling, he said. However, he added that Intel was working on a wireless solution, based on the Home RF (radio frequency) standard, called SWAP, that it plans to launch in early 2000. The basic AnyPoint starter kit, with two hardware adapters costs $189; an add on kit, with one extra adapter, is available for $99 and the PCI adapter costs $79. á
