CES 2008 Preview: Networking

It'll be a wireless new year at CES 2008. With the Draft N 'standard' getting lots of vendor play in 2007, including interoperability testing, we can expect a truckload of new Draft N Wi-Fi routers, access points and PC Cards in early 2008. Look for these to take a power user format (every high-end feature known to geek) and a home hardware suite format.

Hardware suites for the home are coming from several vendors. These suites will include product lines that are zeroing in on your entertainment center or your home security system—or both. The Wi-Fi router is just the beginning as these suites will address storage, entertainment media and voice on the one hand and Webcam, power management and alarm integration on the other. The advantage here is that instead of stringing together an 802.11n router from Linksys with a media extender from SageTV and a NAS from D-Link, you'll be able to buy the whole kit and caboodle from one vendor and get an all-in-one installation and support process. That's especially useful in the home security department where customers will likely be familiar only with the webcam part of the kit.

Network attached storage (NAS) appliances will be another hot button all their own this CES, following the launch of Microsoft's Windows Home Server (WHS). We've already seen HP get into this act with its WHS-based MediaSmart appliance, but you can expect to see more and varied kinds of WHS appliances from a number of vendors. Look for these boxes to differentiate themselves on the amount of included storage, their network access (wireless will be included) and various media server offerings, including Vista Media Center extensions, iTunes and Squeezebox servers and more. Plus, you can look for competing NAS operating system vendors, including Axentra, D-Link, Netgear, and more. Expect lots of feature clash here.

Entertainment add-ons will come in the form of networked 'media extenders'. These will come from vendors like Linksys, D-Link, SageTV and more and are designed to sit between your TV and your home PC network, allowing digital recording, playback across your home network or the Internet and streaming services for music and photos and such. What will set these boxes apart isn't just wireless, but also support for HDTV (streaming, not just recording) and whether they can function alone or need Vista to work.

Last, expect the VoIP crowd to make a big consumer push at CES this year, since they've been fighting a losing legal battle against the big teleco companies all last year. VoIP coverage will take several forms. On the home front, you'll see home routers and firewalls that come pre-configured to handle voice-over-IP—that means they'll automatically prioritize that traffic so your voice quality stays high. You'll also see corded and wireless VoIP phones aimed straight at the home, meaning less complex handsets in better-looking designs.

On the VoIP provider front, look for companies like Packet8, Skype and Vonage to beef up their service offerings while lowering their price tags in an effort to snag new customers. They'll also likely hit the SMB market again with virtual PBXes and lower group calling plans.

There'll be a few more networked tidbits at the show, but these are the wide-swath trends. Look for news stories and reviews on PC Mag.com as both become available at the show.�

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