While a connected, fully-networked home is an advanced project costing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, new standalone technologies are changing the way that we interact with multimedia.
Many people have already made the switch from film cameras to digital cameras, flung away their Walkmans in favour of MP3 players such as Apple's iPod. Now it's time to upgrade your house to a digital home.
STEP 1: THE COMPUTER AS A DIGITAL HUB
The computer, whether it's a PC or an Apple Mac, has a central role to play at the core of the new smart house. Today, computers already store digitised music collections and photos, and people use them to play games, edit home videos, watch DVDs, and access the Internet. But they are capable of doing so much more.
With the addition of a TV tuner and the appropriate recording software, a computer's talents can be extended to video recording and playback. Plug in web cams or network cameras and you can set up a home security system; add remote-controlled X-10 or Z-Wave modules and you can remotely operate your home's lights, heating and appliances.
And when a PC is plugged into a wired or wireless network (see Step 3), you have the option of streaming audio and video to any room in the house, transforming the home computer into a digital hub. Admittedly, Macs and PCs don't have the ease-of-use and accessibility of consumer electronics devices such as DVD players and hi-fis. But they have unparalleled potential and consumer electronics industries don't have an all-in-one machine to rival them.
Recommended Websites:
Apple – www.apple.com.au
Mic
rosoft Media Center – www.m
icrosoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter
Home automation – www.lenwallisaudio
.com.au
 |
| Sonos' multi-room system takes advantage of PC networks |
STEP 2: DUMP DIAL-UP FOR BROADBAND
A recent ABS report stated that 30 per cent of households now have broadband Internet access (that's 1.8 million connections). And this figure is only going to rise. Broadband is not only cheaper and faster than a dial-up connection, but the wired and wireless networks that can connect it to different devices are key to the ongoing development of the digital home.
Using broadband, people are spending more time on the Internet than ever before. They're buying music online from stores such as iTunes and Napster, booking holidays, buying cinema tickets, doing their shopping, chatting, gaming, sharing photos, reading online magazines… the list is endless.
And broadband will only get faster – with Telstra and Optus now under the gun to deliver improved services. Faster broadband speeds will enable new services, such as video downloads and internet TV. This in turn will lead to new types of radio, TV and computers.
Recommended Websites.
www.whirlpool.net.au
STEP 3: SET UP A NETWORK
A digital home needs to be a networked home. Your camcorder should be able to talk to your computer; your computer should be able to talk to your TV. There are currently two main ways that you can connect up your home – laying metres of CAT5 cable or building a wireless network.
CAT5 is the world standard for networking computers and it has extended its reach into the consumer electronics industry. The advantage of a wired Local Area Network (LAN) is its sheer speed. A CAT5 network can effortlessly transport everything from audio to video, supporting data speeds up to 100Mbps, rising to 1000Mbps for Gigabit Ethernet. The disadvantage is that while CAT5 cables are pretty thin, most homes don't already have them installed. Want a wired network? Then you're either looking at some heavy DIY, paying a custom install specialist to do it for you, or putting up with cables running along the edges of your walls.
A wireless setup, on the other hand, can be used to replace or to supplement a traditional wired network. Making your broadband connection available over a wireless LAN (WLAN) enables devices such as laptops, music adapters and media centre PCs to access the internet without ever being physically plugged in.
802.11g is currently the minimum standard that you should consider, rated at 54Mbps but capable of real-world data speeds of 20-25Mbps – not fast enough for high-quality video. Wireless broadband routers, such as the Netgear DG834GT or the Linksys WAG54G (pictured), are ideal to ensure you can share broadband and invisibly link devices together.
Recommended Websites:
Linksys – www.linksys.com.au
Netgear – www.netgear.com.au
D-Link-www.dlink.com.au
Custom installers – www.cedia.com.au
