The digital home concept is still very much in its infancy as consumers get to grips with what exactly they can achieve by distributing content around their home. However, the interest is there, it is now getting the average consumer to understand and feel comfortable with the technology and its benefits.
Interestingly, there are currently two schools of thought as to what technology will be the centre of the digital home, with some manufacturers believing the focus will be on the PC and others, the TV.
“The living room TV likely to start to become the centre of the home hub, offering internet access, home networking, security, lighting and entertainment,” says Matthew Evans, product management, JVC. “It will be the TV rather than the PC that is more likely to become at the heart of the home network.
“There seems to be a battle between TV with a media centre (or possibly built in media centre in the future) and Media PCs to be the king of connectivity in the home. At CES this year, Bill Gates announced his thoughts on the Windows Concept PC. This ideally would put itself in the centre of digital home entertainment and be the media management, streaming various sources throughout the home. This announcement was accompanied by news that development would begin with Hewitt Packard as a partner.  
“On the TV side of the argument, BT have already launched BT Vision (Freeview with BT on demand),” Evans  continues. “This is mainly used with a TV for playback, but with the integration of Freeview, TV on demand and internet in one set top box it could be argued that this and TV could be the future centre of home entertainment. HP have also announced the Z500 model, which is a box designed for living room home entertainment center. The highly anticipated HP Digital Entertainment Center allows consumers to access their music, movies, home videos and photos from a single device via a remote control. Therefore, both TV and PC are getting allies in the industry.
“In summary, home entertainment already focuses around the TV with Sky Plus boxes, Windows Media PC Centres and wireless networks catering for consumer needs. However, in 2008 many devices will follow to make this an established trend in the consumer market and could change this fact,” he adds.
Whilst this is being debated, the market is moving forward with new products and technologies. For example, over the past 12 months, we’ve seen a wider range of simpler, more robust products with better performance and interoperability coming onto the market.  This is due to manufacturers working towards technological solutions that are more consumer-friendly and are more likely to interest people in the concept of the connected home.
In addition, social trends are also bringing the topic to the forefront as more digital forms of entertainment become popular.
“One of the main developments has been the explosion of On Demand entertainment which is accessible via the internet,” notes Sony UK’s Chris Trewhitt, product manager, VAIO marketing. “Instead of having to remember to record TV programmes you can now access them when you choose to. Products such as Sony’s TP Home Entertainment Centre allow this scenario to occur in the living room, which is where people tend to watch their TV as a group, rather than viewing on a laptops smaller screen.”
However, the average consumer still considers the set-up and installation of networked products to be very difficult and success in this sector depends on simplifying the installation process in order for the concept to truly get mass appeal.
“The complexity of setting up devices to communicate with each other is the main obstacle but this is improving with every new generation of product,” highlights Hitachi’s Peter Johnson, product technical manager.
Indeed, this is also happening in the home server and media hub arena.
“Home servers have previously been the domain of the tech savvy as opposed to the average consumer,” says Tewhitt. “This will change this year as a number of manufacturers move into the market with more consumer friendly solutions. Ease-of-use is key here to ensuring consumers feel confident about using the technology and become willing to invest.”

With this in mind, manufacturers are aiming to create great products, but which are simple to set up.
“The Philips wireless products that have been introduced to the marketplace are designed to be simple to set up and to use. Products like the WACS7500 introduce wireless networking to the home without the consumer needing to have an existing wireless network. The centre automatically connects to additional stations and is then ready to stream the same music - or different track selections - to up to five units throughout the home,” says Paul Robinson, consumer marketing manager, Philips Connected and Mainstream Audio.
Other products are also playing their part, such as Panasonic’s VIERA Link. This product allows interlinked operation of various Panasonic AV devices using only the VIERA remote control, by simply connecting the devices to each other by an HDMI cable. Then there are also products like Sony’s PS3 which is helping consumers get to grips with the idea of a home hub, and home connectivity.
It is clear that the quality of life in the future homes may improve as more IT applications are implemented, but the value of this proposition is still unconfirmed. People have reservations of buying into a ‘system’ rather than a product. Likewise people are reluctant to buy into a system that is not fully accepted yet and has only really been taken up by the early adopters. Many people perceive the system as too complex to use or evaluate. Future proofing is also a key concern in this area, with consumers not certain that what they buy today will be used tomorrow. Connecting homes to do everything (streaming, security, internet) is expensive and may be unwarranted. Consumers have been said to prefer scalable solutions so that they can examine the technology to check it will provide the level of function they are happy with and they are willing to pay for it.
“The home itself is a major barrier to such systems,” highlights Evans. “Consider the number of pipes already present in a home (water, gas, telephone).  At the moment there are many ways to achieve a digital network in the house, but there is no single accepted form as every network depends on the individual and their needs. Competition and market demand will create new and better offerings and so making the connection is much more about choices rather than technology.  This leads to the barrier of the consumer thinking its nice to have, but not a necessity. The internet, though useful, is not a necessity.  The internet is seen as an ‘add-on’ and therefore expendable in the home. So we have a barrier in perceived value of the system and the personal choice barrier,” he notes.
But looking forward, the rise of the digital living network alliance (DLNA) could truly help to make the digital home a reality, allowing consumer electronics to talk to each other and share information such as music, video and photos,and in a simple, straight forward ‘standardised’ way.
The DLNA is an international, cross-industry collaboration of consumer electronics, computing industry and mobile device companies, with its main objection being the establishment of a wired and wireless interoperable network of PCs, consumer electronics and mobile devices enabling a seamless environment for sharing new digital media and content services. Manufacturers believe this platform will take off this year with the introduction of more and more DLNA products.
It is very much early days when it comes to the digital home, however, in-roads are being created in this area, and the feel for the future is positive. Manufacturers are working hard to bring to market appealing product solutions, and consumers’ interest looks set to grow. Retailers should also play their part, explaining and promoting these products to customers, and together this work will lead to a thriving business sector offering benefits to all involved.