Household

We’ve been disappointed by the fits and starts that powerline technology has suffered in the past, but an honest look over the past year’s HomePlug Alliance achievements isn’t without bright spots. Growth in the install base (now at 25 million devices), products and vendors (18 new members) are nothing to sneeze at, and HomePlug AV2’s promise of 600Mbps speeds sounds promising going forward. Kicking of at CES this week and moving forward, the alliance wants to see lots more household connectivity for HDTV, HDMI and all manner of data transfer you want to get done without tearing down the sheetrock in your home. Could this be the year that HomePlug really takes off, or will disappointing real-world performance continue to dog the technology? Hit the link for the alliance’s rosy view and let us know your predictions in the comments.
January 6, 2009 – The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance today announced it will be showcasing innovative products and technologies from multiple member companies at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (January 8-11, 2009) in South Hall 2, Booth #25826. Demonstrating their leadership in the powerline communications (PLC) industry, HomePlug Alliance member companies have now shipped more than 25 million PLC devices worldwide, a more than 50 percent increase from the same time last year, with cumulative product certifications now equaling more than 165 products over the last seven years. This marks the end of a very exciting and productive year for the alliance, with a number of key milestones having taken place.

The growing international support of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance is exhibited with the addition of 18 new member companies from a variety of industries to the alliance throughout the year, including Contributor member Renesas and a number of utilities including American Electric Power, Consumers Energy Co., Duke Energy, Electricite de France (EDF), Oncor Electric Delivery, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Reliant Energy, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas and Electric. Other new members include Hangzhou H3C Technologies Co., Ltd., Juice Technologies, LLC, Landis Gyr, NuVo Technologies LLC, Pioneer Corporation, PowerMax Global, LLC, ST&T Corporation, TELECOM Bretagne and Watteco.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance’s Smart Energy Initiative has been a very important new area. In August, the alliance reached an important milestone by announcing a liaison partnership with the ZigBee Alliance and major utility companies to help build the Home Area Network (HAN) Green Ecosystem for controlling load devices at peak demand such as thermostats, pool pumps, white goods and electric vehicles, and providing real time information to the consumer. This initiative is the only utility industry-led solution that will deliver ubiquitous whole-home energy management.

In November, the completion of the HomePlug AV2 Market Requirements Document (MRD) was announced. HomePlug AV2 technology targets evolving home network requirements with usable throughput speeds up to 600Mbps and more robust coverage.

And capping off a momentous year, the alliance announced on December 22 that the IEEE P1901 Working Group approved proposals including key HomePlug technology as the baseline for an IEEE standard for high speed powerline networking.

“This past year has brought about so many significant developments for the HomePlug Powerline Alliance and continued to cement our place as the leader in the powerline communications industry,” said Rob Ranck, president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. “The HomePlug Alliance has made reliable technology a reality and it is the only high-speed technology with interoperable solutions from multiple vendors. By every real-world measure, HomePlug technology is the global leader in networking via powerlines – more shipments, more member companies, more certified products and more satisfied consumers.”

This week at the 2009 International CES in Las Vegas, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance will showcase innovative products and technology demonstrations from a variety of member companies including:

• HDTV distribution featuring Intellon solutions
• Home entertainment systems from Russound incorporating solutions from Arkados
• Smart energy demonstrations featuring solutions from Yitran and Simply Automated
• HDMI over powerline demonstrated by ST&T
• Connectivity for security cameras, gaming and Internet access demonstrated by GigaFast

Yeah, it’s kind of creepy, but we’re sure D-Link had the noblest of intentions when crafting the DCS-1130 802.11n Wireless Network Camera. Said device offers paranoid homeowners the chance to login from practically anywhere and view live streams of their camera, and the 16x digital zoom is sure to give you a totally pixelated look at whatever stranger happens to meander around in your yard before moving on. Better still, those who simply can’t go a moment without a look back home can view the live streams on a 3G cellphone, though a wireless router supporting WPS must be involved in the configuration. Mum’s the word on a price, but it should be noted that a wired-only version (DCS-1100) will also be available for those who don’t trust the airwaves.

Now that the holiday season is officially over (CES notwithstanding), there’s officially no better time to get inebriated and wash away the sorrows of not having another government-recognized holiday for like, ever. After you’ve drug that dead tree out to the roadside and filled a few buckets with tears, why not try constructing your very Serv O’Beer in order to bring just a sliver of that joy back into your heart? Put simply, the project pictured above utilized Construx as the mechanical platform, a servo driving the action and ioBridge controlling the system; a so-called “perfect pour” was executed by linking an iPhone accelerometer to the system and turning it up. Have a look at the demonstration vid just past the break — dollars to donuts it’ll make you smile.

[Thanks, Hans]

We’re truthfully not sure what’s cooler: the fact that the above pictured washing machine tweets when it’s done, or the fact that the above pictured washing machine still works. We’re guessing that the geeks in the crowd would argue that it’s clearly the former, and for those interested in a little proof / explanation, you can head on past the break for a video demonstration. But just so you know, it’s highly unlikely that your Twittering washer will have any diehard followers.

[Via technabob]

The latest piece of tech in the war on grandmas has gotta be Brother’s Quattro 6000D sewing machine, a beastly machine with specs that will help even the most diligent granny patch up those quilts or ripped teddies more efficiently. Once you get past the huge 50-inch workspace, you’ll notice the 4.5 x 7-inch Sharp HD LCD display and embedded runway lighting. Brother’s “InnovEye” and “Up-Close Viewer” technology places a camera right next to the needle to give the user a birds-eye view on the LCD to allow perfect placement before stitching. Advanced embroidery features and built-in tutorials should certainly mitigate any mishaps, and should you get the urge to plug every flash drive you own into it, there are 3 USB ports. From our perspective, it looks like the hardest part will be getting this monster home from the store and finding a place to store it — and what to attack with embroidered flowers first. No word on price or release date yet, but there are a few more glamor shots after the break.

Goodness, we can already tell that China is going to be a frigging goldmine of weird and wild Android hardware for a long, long time to come. First we had the QiGi i6, which boasted compatibility both with Android and WinMo — and it’s looking like this might be a surprisingly common feature for some of these Chinese devices now that we have another doing the same thing. The HKC Pearl looks suspiciously like a first-gen HTC Touch — and nothing like its namesake, may we add — working with a 2.8-inch QVGA display, 256MB of ROM, 128MB of RAM, WiFi, and a 2-megapixel cam to back up its Google- and Microsoft-provided loads. As with the QiGi, the odds of seeing this one outside Asia are slim at best, but hey, at least our colleagues at Engadget Chinese have scored a hands-on to satisfy our collective curiosities.

Read - HKC Pearl announcement
Read - Android mode hands-on
Read - WinMo mode hands-on

The cats at iGo are making their first-ever CES appearance next month, and they’re bringing a suitcase of new gadgets with them, including three devices — a laptop charger, a surge protector, and a wall outlet — they say will reduce the power used when attached devices are in standby or off mode with automatic shut-off and recovery. Additionally, iGo will introduce a not-as-green netbook charger that, like its wallMAX predecessor, lets you simultaneously charge your phone, PMP, camera or other device. Rounding out the showcase are various assorted accessories like a card reader, laptop cleaning kit, and international travel adapter. We know you’re simply dying to check out that triumvirate of awesome.

The unmanned lawnmower is nothing new, but we still think there’s something downright iffy about arming a Roomba with sharp metal blades. That said, if you’ve been dying to get in on the action, SmartMow might be worth checking out. Set to hit the stores in Spring ‘09 for $749 (much cheaper than some other robo-mowers), the thing weighs 17 pounds, features three cutting blades, will cut around a sixth of an acre on a single charge (about 2-3 hours), and is auto-docking. As far as knowing where to mow, SmartMow eschews sci-fi grass detection algorithms and rudimentary artificial intelligence in favor of the tried but true method of marking off your mowable yard with an edge wire. The best thing about the bot, however, may be its educational value — not only will it teach your kids about robotics, it will also show them how people with money can buy their way out of doing chores. Video after the break.

[Via Robot Stock News]

The age of the house call is long gone, and until we manage to replace all our bodily organs with cybernetic proxies, medical gadgets are our only hope to minimize those pesky office visits. The Health PHS5000 (aka Dr. Touch) from LG and Intel isn’t the first of its kind, but it is the latest such device, and it’s been recently introduced exclusively in Japan to begin medical trials. The little white box with a friendly UI (smileys mean you’re not dead yet, we presume) can track things like blood pressure and sugar levels, and will even send reports to your doctor’s office — meaning your terminal laziness can reach astronomical new heights… er, lows. It’s perfect for the disabled or merely reclusive, and with any luck will be hacked soon to allow Wii Fit integration.