Linksys, Intel build home wireless media adapter

By Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(01/15/03, 03:08:00 PM EDT)

Las Vegas, Nevada -- At the Consumer Electronics Show here, Linksys Inc. of Irvine, Ca., demonstrated the prototype of a wireless digital media adapter for home networks that it is building in cooperation with Santa Clara, Ca.-based Intel Corp.

Scheduled to be introduced by summer 2003, the new Linksys Wireless Digital Media Adapter is being designed to bridge the analog and digital world using 802.11b wireless networking to deliver the home library of digital content to conventional TVs and stereos.

The adapter is being designed to  reside in home entertainment centers next to the television and stereo. The device resembles the Linksys Access Point, with two 802.11b antennas. Instead of connecting to an Ethernet port, the device will be equipped with audio/visual connectors.

To process JPEG, MP3 and WMA digital content, the adapter uses Intel's XScale-based PXA250 application processor. Using Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), the adapter is designed to be easily setup to work with other UPnP devices on the network such as a Linksys Wireless Router. Other features are currently in development by Linksys and will be announced at time of product availability.

For more information on this product, go to www.linksys.com.

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