IBM, Natsemi to team on home networking device

SAN FRANCISCO: International Business Machines Corp., the No. 1 computer

maker, and diversified chip maker National Semiconductor Corp. said on Tuesday

that they have jointly developed technology for a device that allows common

household appliances to be remotely controlled.

The two companies said they teamed up to create a development platform for

what are known as home gateways. A home gateway would let users remotely manage

lights, security systems, utility meters, air conditioners, furnaces, and

entertainment systems.

The technology blueprint for their home gateway will be available in August,

IBM and National Semiconductor said. It will be offered to companies that make

the devices. Typically, the devices would then be distributed by cable TV

service providers and others to customers to link devices in the home.

On June 12, No. 1 chip maker Intel Corp. and Comcast Cable Communications

Inc., a unit of Comcast Corp. said they would develop and sell a home

residential gateway. Comcast is the No. 3 US cable TV provider.

That device will provide high-speed connections to the Internet for all

computers in a customer's home using various networking technologies, including

Ethernet and the 802.11b high-speed wireless transmission standard. Despite

intensifying efforts by the companies to push the adoption of broadband Internet

connectivity in the home, many customers so far seem to be staying away,

analysts said.

San Jose, California-based Cisco Systems Inc., the biggest maker of

data-networking equipment, had planned last year to make a home gateway to be

sold by cable companies, but shelved the plan. A Cisco spokeswoman said Monday

the company continued to talk to cable companies about what kind of device

customers may ultimately adopt, but no consensus has emerged.

Only about 10 per cent of US households, or about 5.4 million, had a

broadband Internet connection at the end of last year, according to the Yankee

Group, a technology research division of Reuters Group Plc.

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