Cisco confused the world when last week it said it had an imminent launch which would revolutionize the internet. After most of the analysts on the planet concluded that this was an Apple-like innovation, coming out of what was once its Scientific Atlanta subsidiary, and that it would be a new home hub, Cicso went ahead and delivered the CRS 3 router, three times the speed of its old top of the line beast.
Some of the disappointment surrounding Cisco’s router launch was more about the absence of the rumored home media hub. Pundits had been looking for Cisco to build on its Scientific Atlanta acquisition by offering a consumer set-top box for IPTV, plus a move to integrated devices combining TV, Wi-Fi, broadband and even 3G capabilities with massive content storage.
The first product ‘ which could still materialize later in the year ‘ would be an AppleTV-like cable set-top box, say sources, marketed directly to end users rather than to cablecos, like existing Scientific Atlanta products. This would combine digital video recording, web video streaming and access, wireless connectivity and telepresence, as well as acting as a home media hub.
Cisco could combine expertise from its gradually increasing activities in home devices for broadband access ‘ set-top boxes, via its acquisition of Scientific Atlanta; Wi-Fi routers and home gateways, from Linksys; and femtocells, through its partnership with ip.access.
Cisco may not have obliged, this time at least, but other companies see this convergence of connectivity and content ‘ over the three screens of PC, TV and phone ‘ as the most important battleground for the coming few years. Some vendors have made their initial moves, notably AppleTV. Operators such as Orange are readying applications and services strategies that will provide a common experience across all the screens, and enhance revenues from their cloud-based storage facilities too.
And the convergence of various technologies into unified home gateways/media hubs will offer new opportunities for chip companies too, especially those in the heart of consumer broadband products, such as Broadcom. Qualcomm will have its eye on this space too, as it looks to apply its wireless strengths to new device categories. This is seen in the initial specifications it has released for its forthcoming femtocell chipset, which seems destined for a multifunction home gateway box, rather than a standalone device for improving indoor 3G coverage.
This is not a new concept ‘ consumer electronics vendors like NEC already incorporate femtocells into home gateways along with DSL, Wi-Fi and other features. Silicon pioneers in this market, notably picoChip, have worked with early suppliers and the Femto Forum to outline a range of scenarios in which femtocells would provide personalized wireless connectivity to a whole variety of consumer devices.
Qualcomm is clearly looking at this market too, and the opportunity for a femtocell to live alongside a powerful apps processor and content storage, to create a media hub with embedded wireless broadband as well as localized applications and services, tuned to the user’s location and personal preferences. Its early chipset specs include a GPS receiver and the gigahertz Snapdragon apps processor. And if those didn’t offer sufficient clues, the document contains the comment: “Potential platform for future applications such as multimedia gateway, routing etc”.
A media gateway could replace several separate gadgets with a single box ‘ notably the Wi-Fi router, set-top box and the standalone femtocell itself. It would often double as a media player, with a browser for access to web content and content stores, as well as a friendly user interface for locating and playing locally stored home media. With a femtocell included, access to the cloud can be achieved using 3G, without stressing the carrier’s RAN, and with awareness of the user’s location, presence and personal settings. It also supports the enhanced role of the cellphone, as media controller.