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Netgear Digital Entertainer EVA700 announced
While everyone's all stoked about that new Netgear Skype handset, we almost forgot that Netgear makes regular home networking stuff too. Today, the company announced its new Digital Entertainer (EVA700), meda streamer that'll even take your snaps n' flicks on your computer across the house and display them on that flat screen hotness that anchors your living room. The EVA700 ($270) has a convenient USB port on the front and on the flip side is decked out with everything you'd expect: Ethernet, WiFi, RCA ports, S-Video, S/PDIF, a SCART jack (for you Euros in the house), and will play plethora of audio and video types, including XviD. Now, while this brushed metal bundle of joy does play 1080p (downcoverted), we'd still really like some HDMI love in the near future. Whaddyasay, Netgear, you want to take on that iTV, or what?
Skype readies four WiFi phones for VoIPing public
We've been waiting on Netgear's WiFi Skype phone for quite a while now, but what we didn't know is that it won't be only one of its kind for long. Skype now has four WiFi phones in the wings, the F1PP000GN-SK from Belkin (pictured), Edge-Core's WM4201, SMC's WSKP100, and of course Netgear's SPH101. From the looks of things, Netgear's entrant, which is due this month, will be the priciest at $300, but Belkin should follow in August with a quite similar offering for a much more acceptable $189. We're pretty short on details for the rest, but we should know more soon. Like the SPH101, all of the phones will allow you to manage a buddy list, and make calls from a WiFi connection without a need for a PC in between.
Dell offering draft-802.11n card for notebooks
Like many consumers, Dell is getting a little sick of waiting around for the IEEE's Task Group N to pull it together and roll out a final version of the next-gen WiFi standard, so the company has decided to start offering its own draft-802.11n card in all XPS and select Inspiron laptops. As you're probably already aware, 802.11n will be a wireless networking protocol that uses MIMO technology to offer greater range and speed than traditional 802.11a/b/g networks, but has been famously bogged down by delays and questions of interoperability. Dell's implementation comes in the form of its redundantly-named Wireless 1500 Draft 802.11n dual-band wireless card, which utilizes Broadcom's Intensi-fi flavor of draft-N -- available in such products as Netgear's RangeMax Next lineup -- to provide those desirable performance boosts. Usually we'd recommend that you wait to take the plunge until the dust settles and a final standard is announced, but since that may not happen in our lifetimes and Dell's backwards-compatible card is only $59 (or less, plus the cost of a router), it doesn't sound too risky to give this option a try.[Via Notebook Review]
D-Link releases RangeBooster line of draft-N gear
Probably feeling left out now that all its competitors have released gear conforming to the troubled draft-802.11n WiFi standard, D-Link has finally entered the game with a pair of routers that promise increased range and throughput over traditional 802.11/a/b/g equipment while maintaining compatibility with previously deployed products. So far the reviews we've read about similar routers from Linksys, Buffalo, and Netgear have not been all that positive, so we're not expecting too much from the 3-antenna RangeBooster N 650 and 2-antenna Rangebooster N, although the fact that you can pick up the latter for under a hundred bucks may convince you to give it a try. Still, you're probably not gonna get anywhere near the bandwidth that D-Link promises, and with the controversy over 802.11n still raging on, you're probably better off with a MIMO-equipped 802.11g model instead.Read- RangeBooster N 650Read- RangeBooster N[Via PCMag]
Netgear and DS2's 200Mbps Powerline HD solution gets real
Close on the heels of XAVi's announcement earlier this month, the HD Powerline collaboration we told you about a few months ago from Netgear and DS2 (sorry HomePlug) has officially hit store shelves. The new HD ethernet adapter (HDX101) and networking kit (HDXB101), which are selling for $129.99 and $249.99 respectively, allow for data to be transferred at high speed through a building's existing electrical wiring. The step up in bandwidth and the video quality of service technology allow for real-time streaming of HD video and gaming content by prioritizing that data over everything else. It's good to finally see a networking solution with its priorities in line with our own. Now all we have to do is hope these can actually live up to the bandwidth hype, unlike some other Powerline devices we've seen in the past.[Via WiFi Net News]
Netgear and Linksys get draft-n routers reviewed
With all the pain associated, usually there's a bit of a pay-off for early adopters. They are, after all, playing with the "latest and greatest," right? Doesn't seem to be the case with the three new draft-n routers that just hit the market. We already hit up the disappointing Buffalo WZR-G300N, and it seems Netgear's WNR854T and Linksys' WRT300N fared little better. In fact, neither product managed to best its own predecessor. The PC Mag reviewer did have a lot of love for the actual setup and feature set of both of these products, with snazzy parental controls from Linksys and a built-in Gigabit Ethernet switch from Netgear (a first for consumer routers) among the evident router maturity these two companies have reached. Sadly, the fun stopped there, since out of the box neither product managed much connectivity at all, and even after firmware updates the two routers marked up some pretty lame benchmarks. Netgear beat all with 124mbps at 10 feet and 105mbps at 60 feet, but its lame 28mbps at 120 feet and abysmal 2.8mbps at 160 feet were thoroughly trounced by Netgear's own RangeMax 240 pre-n product. Linksys, like Buffalo, didn't even manage a signal at 160 feet, and across the board lost to its own pre-n product, the SRX400. That's gotta hurt. As much as we love that bleeding edge, we think we're going to sit this round out, mmkay?Read - Netgear WNR854TRead - Linksys WRT300N
XAVi announces DS2 200Mbps Powerline HD lineup
XAVi of Taiwan just announced their new product lineup exploiting the DS2 200Mbps Powerline HD chipsets shown as a reference design to the right. Just like Netgear's hardware, XAVi promises the ability to stream high-definition video to any room of the house via your existing electrical wiring -- something promised by first generation HomePlug devices but never quite achieved. XAVi says they'll begin shipping their XP302A and XP302H wall adapters starting this month with their XP302D -- a power supply integrated with the DS2 chipset -- shipping later in the summer. It's not clear from the press release but we assume that some magical combination of the devices will allow simultaneous access to high-definition TV streams, internet access, and voice over IP services when the XP302D is mounted or plugged into XAVi's lineup of xDSL and cable customer premise equipment. We'll just have to hold on for a bit to see where XAVi is taking us with all this.
IEEE "Task Group N" rejects first 802.11n draft proposal
In a move that came as little surprise to those who know how these things work, but that will still probably hurt manufacturers who've been releasing MIMO-enabled networking peripherals for the last few months, the IEEE 802.11 working group tasked with creating a next-gen WiFi standard has recently rejected the first draft of the highly-anticipated 802.11n. Not only did the first 802.11n draft fail to capture the 75% supermajority needed for passage, it couldn't even muster a regular majority among "Task Group N," which is a troubling development for those consumers who have already gone out and purchased pre- or draft-N gear from Linksys, Netgear, and the like. As we've reported in the past, some manufacturers had warned -- and independent testing corroborated -- that draft-N gear could negatively effect current 802.11b/g products already on the market, by hogging the available 2.5GHz bandwidth and causing performance issues on existing WLANs. Still, taken in a historical perspective, rejection of the first draft of a proposed 802.11x specification is not uncommon, and actually seems to be the rule, rather than the exception, in the life-cycle of these multi-year, multi-party standards talks.
Netgear's SPH101 Skype WiFi Phone available for pre-order
You wouldn't guess it from that conceptual looking pic, but Netgear is all prepped to start shipping their standalone WiFi Skype phone on June 30th. Amazon.com is accepting pre-orders now, with the phone going for a fairly steep $250, but at least it's marked down $50 from the $300 list price. If you missed it the first time around, Netgear's SPH101 Skype Phone can make Skype calls wherever you can finagle a WiFi connection, with no PC required. The phone can also manage your contact list, and forward calls to your mobile, landline, or other Skype account. Keep reading for a couple of more realistic pics.[Thanks everyone who sent this in]
Netgear intros RangeMax Next "draft spec" 802.11n products
We're not sure how this is much different than all those pre-n routers that have been floating around for a while, since a device that holds to the draft specifications of 802.11n still has quite a slim chance to actually work with official 802.11n devices. But that's not stopping Netgear from releasing a new line of RangeMax Next wireless products, which tout 300Mbps speeds and HD video streaming power. The WNR854T router supports gigabit Ethernet, while both the router and WN511T use MIMO (multi-in, multi-out) to reach those 802.11n speeds. It seems we've waited so long for 802.11n products that it has lost a lot of its appeal, but we're sure Netgear will find a way to keep busy.
Netgear teams with DS2 for 200Mbps powerline networking
We weren't so impressed with Netgear's 85Mbps powerline solution (pictured), so we'll give them another shot with their 200Mbps attempt. Netgear nabbed DS2's chip for their up and coming 200Mbps Powerline HD solution. The theory is that any electrical outlet in your home can be used as a blazing fast Ethernet port with the equipment and 200Mbps is more than enough for multiple high-def streams. No product until the second quarter of 06, which is fine with us; we're still smarting over our failed attempts to stream HD, or SD for that matter, with the last product iteration. For now, we'll keep streaming our HD over 802.11a.
