Netgear will offer a “3DHD Wireless Home Theater Networking Kit” /
Netgear, the maker of a number of wireless products, has a plan to beat its competitors, which include Belkin and Cisco, and double its revenue in the coming year. It involves the television.
Among a slew of new products the company announced on Friday, Netgear had a new category of wireless router that enables customers to connect televisions to the Web wirelessly using high bandwidth technologies.
Patrick Lo, Netgear’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in an interview that his company had moved beyond just connecting computers to the Internet, but hopes to push the boundaries of the next generation of televisions coming into homes today.
“A lot of the new Internet-connected televisions have an Ethernet port in the back,” Mr. Lo said. “We want to offer products that can help customers stream very high bandwidth content wirelessly, without having to plug in cumbersome wires and drag them throughout their homes.”
Among the new products the company announced on Friday, Netgear will offer a “3DHD Wireless Home Theater Networking Kit” that can stream 1080p high-definition video throughout the home, even over long distances, using hubs that can boost the signal.
The new wireless products can be plugged directly into existing Ethernet jacks in modern Internet-ready televisions and then stream video or other Web content wirelessly.
“Three-D high-definition video is extremely cumbersome to move across a wireless network. We’ve reinvented our wireless technologies to easily stream this content without seeing any jitter or bumpy video,” Mr. Lo said.
Most new 3-D televisions do not come with Wi-Fi hardware built-in due to slower wireless speeds and possible third-party wireless connectivity issues.
Mr. Lo said that most customers who planned to buy a new television would most likely buy a device with some sort of Ethernet connection. By offering wireless products in this category he hopes to double his $1 billion a year in revenue.
By NICK BILTON
source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/netgear-hopes-to-wireless-connect-new-televisions/?src=me