Many consumers conditioned to broadband access in the office have come to desire similar capabilities in their homes. Significant financial, technical and other resources have been dedicated to providing this broadband capability to homes and small offices through a variety of competing broadband technologies:

The competition for DSL, for example, has been steady and fierce. Everyday, more and more DSL service providers are trying to become the provider of choice for multiple markets. As a result, residential DSL prices are dropping. There are even a few companies that are now offering low cost or free DSL connections (FreeDSL, Winfire™,  INYC™, Smart World Technologies™.)  According to International Data Corporation (IDC), an independent research firm, installation of broadband access is expected to increase from 2.1 million U.S. households in 1999 to 21.2 million U.S. households in 2003.

The expansion of home and SOHO broadband access has provided consumers with the ability to enjoy a greater range of information and entertainment features as part of their home entertainment and small office systems. Consumers are continuing to acquire multiple PCs and entertainment devices enabled for broadband access. The very definition of multimedia is expanding and has never been so broad as it is today. According to IDC, the percentage of U.S. households with two or more PCs is expected to increase from 14.2% in 1999 to 28.5% in 2004. 

The rising demand for broadband access at home, together with the rapid growth of multiple PCs and entertainment devices, has fueled the need for home and small office networks. Consumers are recognizing the benefits of utilizing networked applications to control, expand, and converge not only their entertainment, environmental and security systems, but their electronics devices and traditional home appliances as well. IDC projects that the number of U.S. households with active home networks, which enable communications and mutual transfers of data between two or more devices, will grow from 2.1 million households in 1999 to 17.6 million households by 2004. For households with multiple PCs, the need for shared broadband access to the Internet and other resources can be even more acute, and IDC projects that 58% of multiple-PC U.S. households will have installed active home networks by 2004.

This increasing demand for home and small office networking has led a number of companies to develop different networking technologies designed to address this growing need. These technologies have been built on wireless, phoneline, powerline and Ethernet infrastructures. Current designs are based on wireless technology standards and protocols, such as 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, HomeRF, and Bluetooth, that operate in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands. Despite the increasing number of technologies and products targeted at home and SOHO networks, networking solutions currently available suffer from a variety of constraints including:

• High cost,
• Difficult installation and use,
• Limited interoperability with legacy equipment,
• Slow execution and acceptance in the marketplace,
• Inability to deliver broadband content.

The X10 Solution

We are striving everyday to continue making the home network as commonplace in the home or small office as the telephone. Rather than setting our sights on compatibility with new technologies, we are working towards uniting the features of these new and existing technologies into a common network for the consumers' benefit. For example, one does not necessarily need a Dolby Pro Logic™ compatible floor lamp. We don't add Dolby Pro Logic to a light bulb, but we do join the benefits of Dolby Pro Logic with the features of a floor lamp to achieve a powerful consumer experience - being able to dim your lights before watching your DVD movie all with one remote. Now consider doing the same with your PC and your lighting, your MP3 music and your stereo, your telephone and your security system, and so on. We unite these combinations of technologies and broad-appeal consumer products into a home and SOHO network capable of controlling, automating, transferring and sharing entertainment, lighting, and security features into a simple-to-use and highly-desired system.

We offer an integrated suite of hardware and software products that provide networking solutions for home and small businesses using a variety of networking technologies including broadband wireless, powerline, phoneline and infrared. These products enable communications between a personal computer and other electronic and electric systems, such as distributing content to multiple audio/video output devices, and controlling security, lighting, heating and air conditioning systems. For example, the products we offer enable consumers to deliver broadband multimedia content received from a single cable connection to televisions located throughout the home. They also distribute broadband Internet content from a PC to a variety of electronic entertainment devices in a home or small office or control the physical condition of an entire home or small office environment with a single universal remote control.

X10 WTI is offering a suite of solutions that deliver many advantages:

Use of Multiple Networking Technologies. 
The products we offer employ a variety of networking technologies, including wireless powerline, phoneline and infrared.

Convenient and Scalable Wireless Networking Solutions. 
A number of products we offer are based on technology using the unlicensed 2.4GHz radio frequency spectrum.

Cost-effective Products that are Easy to Install and Operate.
By reducing the cost and complexity typically associated with home networking products and technology, we offer consumers the opportunity to easily and affordably network their homes or small offices.

 
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