Recently in Home Networking Category

Charter Communications, Inc., one of the largest cable companies in the U.S. today commenced the next phase of its previously announced financial restructuring, which is expected to reduce the Company's debt by approximately $8 billion.

 

"The financial restructuring is good news for Charter and our customers and, if approved, will result in Charter being better positioned to deliver the products and services our customers demand now and in the future," said Neil Smit, President and Chief Executive Officer.

 

According to the NY Times, Charter reportedly had about $21.7 billion in debt at the end of 2008. After the bankruptcy, the company will have $13 billion mainly in bank debt, which expires from 2013 to 2016, the Times reported.

 

So here's a major company, a virtual monopoly in many of its markets I bet, going into a structured bankruptcy in order to emerge in a better financial position on the other side.

 

Students in today's current events/economics classes are probably left scratching their heads... "What? No Bailout?"

 

Students who will be in current events/economics classes 15-25 years from now will probably just say thanks.

More often than not, there is a better way. Take that tangle of wires and bulky plugs under or behind your desk/computer workstation for example. Everybody knows what I mean. First of all even the most basic setup includes a PC/CPU, a monitor, a printer, a set of speakers... and so on. Add a modem nearby, a wireless router, perhaps a phone, fax machine, scanner, and we're talking a holy mess of wires, bulky plugs, inflexible power cords, maybe several power strips anchoring this all together. It's a recipe for organization disaster.

 

The creative folks at PowerSquid have come up with a series of surge protectors that will make sense of your mess, ranging from a basic $18 version (outlet multiplier only - no surge protection) to a $69 top of the line PowerSquid Surge3000 Calamari model. Get it? PowerSquid? Calamari?


 

The Calamari edition is designed to protect all sorts of electronic equipment from computers and accessories, to home theater electronics including TVs, DVD players, and more.

 

The device is truly something to look at -- living up to its "breakthrough cephalopod design." There are six "tentacles" of varying lengths (2 @ 6"; 2 @ 8"; and 2 @ 10") and an 8' cord to plug into the wall outlet. The tentacles accept standard three-prong plugs. The cord ends in a 360-degree swiveling flat profile plug. Very convenient indeed.

 

Once you plug it in three different LEDs light up showing you that the device is powered up, that it's protecting the equipment, and that the surge protector is grounded. Speaking of lighting up, the two 10-inch tentacles are illuminated, which makes them easier to find in the dark.

 

One unique feature of this top of the line model is an audible alarm that sounds when the device has been tripped, essentially letting you know when it's time to replace the unit.

 

As far as the speeds and feeds numbers the PowerSquid Surge3000 Calamari edition, here's the skinny, straight from the manufacturer's site:

 

·         3240Joules w/ Ultra-MOV™ technology

·         330V Clamping

·         58dB Purestream™ EMI/RFI power filtering

·         $500,000 Limited Connected Equipment Warranty

·         Tripwire™ Circuit

·         15 Amp Breaker

 

The Calamari also includes protection for cable and DSL lines.

 

From the moment I saw the unit to the moment I plugged in my six devices I was very pleased with the PowerSquid Surge3000 Calamari edition. At nearly 70 dollars it might be a bit pricey at first blush, however you certainly get your money's worth in style, convenience, practicality, and a half-million dollar warranty protecting your valued electronic gear.

 

If you are interested in your own PowerSquid, go to CableOrganizer.com for more on how to get your own Calamari.

Looks like ABI has been spending a lot of time researching the netbook market.

 

A November 2008 study targeting 1,000 North American adults found that only 11% would use a netbook as their primary computer while 79% would purchase a netbook for use in concert with a laptop or desktop computer.

 

According to ABI Research principal analyst Philip Solis, "While their low price does cause some consumers to view netbooks as a replacement for a laptop given the current economic conditions, the majority view a netbook as being a secondary device."

 

"Even as a device that is secondary to the PC, this has to cut into the laptop market somewhat. When considering another laptop as an additional device mostly for browsing the web and using other Internet-based communications applications, consumers will find netbooks to be an appropriate alternative."

 

The femtocell is indicative of much in the technology world these days.

 

Analysts are generally in agreement that the market opportunity is large, and yet fits and starts - typical of early days in any sector -- abound. Verizon's newly released Network Extender has met with mixed results. T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service was well received, but ran into a bit of a patent issue late last year. And Ars Technica is reporting today that AT&T slipped up and released details of their offering into the space:

 

 

 

Adding to the femtocell conversation, IntelliNet Technologies today announced the development of a new integrated femtocell gateway, which combines a femtocell access point controller with a carrier grade security gateway in an industry standard AdvancedTCA platform.

 

The idea behind this offering is to give service providers and wireless operators the ability to manage thousands of femtocells at once.

 

Anjan Ghosal, president and CEO of IntelliNet Technologies said:

 

Cisco announced earlier today that it is acquiring Pure Networks, a developer of home-networking software.
 

The acquisition will help Cisco to grow its solution set as the home networking market continues to grow more complex as home users continue to add new devices and services that connect to computers and to each other.

 

Pure Networks' home networking-management solution is designed to enable users to easily set up and manage their home network and connect a range of devices, applications and services.

 

Their flagship offering, Network Magic is billed as being the solution that helps stop users from wasting hours wading through manuals and confusing instructions or waiting on hold for technical support. The solution also promises to make it easy to:

 

 

As Kurt Scherf, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Parks Associates, points out in the company's Analyst Blog,

 

 

Cisco will pay $120 million for Pure Networks, and they expect the acquisition to be completed in Cisco's first quarter of fiscal year 2009.