Motorola creating demandNew product to increase wireless device market for home broadband.
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Technology POSTED AT 9:58 AM EST Tuesday, Apr. 22, 2003
Motorola takes living rooms to the air
By RICHARD SHIM
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Motorola has started connecting home-networking devices using its new combination cable modem and Wi-Fi access product, a move it hopes will spur demand for more connected gadgets.
The chipmaker’s broadband services division, called the Broadband Communications Sector, has started selling the $350 (U.S.) SBG1000, a combination cable modem, wireless networking access point, Ethernet router and switch, print server and advanced firewall. The device is meant to expand consumer access to information and entertainment while taking advantage of the growing popularity of wireless networking technology Wi-Fi.
Motorola says it is offering consumers an easy and complete product for sharing broadband access over a home network. In addition to a broadband connection, the device will allow other resources, such as a printer, fax machine and game console, to be shared over a network.
More and more manufacturers, such as Sony and Hewlett-Packard, are building wireless networking capabilities into new devices as part of a larger vision of making content and resources accessible throughout the home. The move for Motorola also is meant to capitalize on the growing subscriptions to broadband service.
“The Motorola SBG1000 is an example of how ... Motorola can work with retailers and network operators, driving innovation to meet ever-increasing consumer demand for broadband,” John Burke, a Motorola corporate vice president, said in a statement.
Broadband Internet use in U.S. homes surged 59 per cent in 2002, fuelled by consumer defections from slower dial-up connections, according to a study from Internet measurement firm Nielsen/NetRatings. More Americans, 74.4 million compared with 33.6 million, access the Web using narrowband connections versus broadband. Canada, meanwhile, has one of the highest per-capita levels of broadband use in the world.
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