 News
Releases From CONNECTIONS™ 2000OSGi Specification Released
at CONNECTIONS™ 2000 San Diego, CA, May 3, 2000 — The Open Services Gateway Initiative (OSGi) today officially released the OSGi specification at a special session at CONNECTIONS™ 2000: Advancing the Networked Home. The OSGi specification, which complements virtually all-residential networking standards, defines an open standard that enables multiple software services to be loaded and run on a services gateway such as a set top box, cable modem, DSL modem, PC or dedicated residential gateway. More than 60 leading technology companies are now part of the OSGi organization (http://www.osgi.org), an independent, non-profit corporation working to define and promote open standards for the delivery of multiple services over wide-area networks to local networks and devices. OSGi (booth #301/400) is a Platinum Sponsor of CONNECTIONS™ 2000, the premier event for companies making and using residential gateways and home networks to promote new applications and services in North American homes. Many OSGi member companies will also be exhibiting on the trade show floor and discussing their plans to support the OSGi specification in next-generation products and services. "The OSGi specification delivers a critical piece of the home and small business networking puzzle," said John Barr, president of OSGi, and director, Systems Architecture and Technology for Personal Area Networks, Motorola. "It creates a platform-independent delivery vehicle for value-added network services and a means for integrating the various networks in the home or small business into a unified system. And, it enables new business opportunities for network operators — cable operators, Telcos, and ISPs — to offer services from multiple ASPs to their subscriber base. A variety of OSGi-compliant products and services will be available later this year, thanks to the strong support of our rapidly growing membership." OSGi Specification – The Open Standard for a Services Gateway Initially based on Java technology, the OSGi specification enables a new business model for the home networking market by allowing multiple value-added services to share the cost of a single services gateway, and gives application service providers, network operators, and device and appliance manufacturers both application and platform independence. Additionally, by allowing a single services gateway to support multiple local networks, such as in-home local area networks (LANs), audio/visual networks and control networks, the OSGi specification enables valuable new services that integrate these previously discrete network islands. With the OSGi specification, high-value services can be dynamically loaded over a wide-area network into a services gateway. Once resident in a services gateway, these services, such as energy measurement and control, safety and security services, health care monitoring services, device control and maintenance, electronic commerce services and more, can interact both with devices and networks in the home or small office and with clients and servers. The services gateway can also consolidate and manage voice, data, control, Internet and multimedia communications to and from the home and small office. "A multi-function, standards-compliant gateway allows service providers to offer ever-more desirable packages of services," said Tricia Parks, president of Parks Associates. "That is essential to accelerate new services availability and adoption by consumers. In short, the evolution to a high-capability gateway is an important consumer innovation, and we both applaud and support OSGi’s efforts." APIs for an OSGi-Compliant Services Gateway The major technical effort in the first release of the OSGi specification is on the application programming interfaces (APIs) implemented on the gateway and available to service developers. Follow-on specifications will cover other parts of the end-to-end architecture. To ensure a large target market for third-party service developers as well as a large selection of compatible services for gateway operators, OSGi specifies API standards for the gateway platform execution environment. Gateways must support these API standards in order to be compliant with the OSGi specifications. A Java-based services gateway will feature the following required components:
In addition to the required APIs present on all OSGi-compliant gateways, an optional service, HTTP service, which defines a service API for an HTTP-based Web server is defined in the first specification release. The OSGi specification is designed to complement and enhance virtually all residential networking standards and initiatives, such as Bluetooth, CAL, CEBus, Convergence, emNET, HAVi, HomePNA, HomePlug, HomeRF, Jini technology, LonWorks, UPnP and VESA. In the same way, the specification leverages the value of existing wireline and wireless networks while providing flexibility toward cable, WCDMA, xDSL and other high speed access technologies. OSGi is also finalizing details and logistics related to a specification compliance program. This program will allow OSGi members to test their products in OSGi-approved facilities to ensure their offerings are compliant to the OSGi specification, and to publicize this fact. Customers will win too, as OSGi-compliant products and implementations will provide greater assurance that these products are compatible. About OSGi The OSGi is a non-profit corporation formed to provide a forum for the creation of open specifications for the delivery of multiple services over wide-area networks to local networks and devices, and to accelerate the demand for products and services based on these specifications worldwide through the sponsorship of market and user education programs. The San Ramon, California, USA-based consortium comprises 60 member organizations from around the globe. Membership is open to any interested party, including Internet Service Providers, Network Operators, Original Equipment Manufacturers, Independent Software Vendors, end users, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. The consortium’s Web site address is http://www.osgi.org. Cisco Demonstrates Internet Lifestyle
with End-to-End Home Networking Solution San Diego, CA, May 3, 2000 — Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet; Whirlpool, the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances; and Home Director, a market leader in home networking, today announced that they will demonstrate an end-to-end home networking solution at CONNECTIONS™ 2000, a leading venue that seeks to advance the networked home. Cisco will demonstrate its Internet Home Gateway integrated with Home Director's Network Connection Center, allowing broadband to be easily distributed via structured wiring. This powerful combination will provide consumers with another option for distributing high-speed Internet access throughout the home. In addition, Whirlpool will demonstrate its Internet-enabled kitchen, which includes an Internet refrigerator, smart oven and wireless web pad all residing on an open, standards-based network powered by Cisco's Internet Home Gateway. "Cisco is teaming up with technology leaders to bring Internet devices and value-added services into the home in a simple and meaningful way," said Mike Moone, group vice president and general manager, Cisco's Consumer Line of Business. "Cisco's Internet Home Gateway will enable companies like Whirlpool and Home Director to quickly deliver best-of-breed Internet solutions to homes worldwide. We are excited to preview the emerging 'Internet Lifestyle' in action at CONNECTIONS™ 2000." The Cisco Internet Home Gateway, will deliver broadband to the home through digital subscriber line (DSL) and distribute it over any type of wiring - from home phone lines to Ethernet. This end-to-end solution will allow service providers to increase revenues by bundling value-added services, ultimately helping them enhance customer relationships. In addition, because Cisco is at the center of this offering, home integrators and builders will now have one company they can turn to for their home networking needs. "Our work with Cisco will allow consumers to quickly take advantage of next generation home Internet products and services," said Ronald L. Kerber, Whirlpool executive vice president and chief technology officer. "Through Cisco's Internet Home Gateway, we will be able to deliver and deploy an advanced suite of intelligent appliances making consumer's lives easier and more enjoyable. We are committed to working with Cisco to make the Internet Home a reality." In addition to Whirlpool and Home Director, Cisco's Internet Home at CONNECTIONS™ 2000 will also feature Internet home security technology from Privada and Network ICE. About Whirlpool Whirlpool Corporation is the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances. Headquartered in Benton Harbor, MI, the company manufactures in 13 countries and markets products under 11 major brand names in more than 170 countries. Additional information about the company can be found at www.whirlpoolcorp.com. About Home Director Based in Morrisville, NC, Home Director, Inc. was launched in January of 2000 as an independent, entrepreneurial spin-off of the former IBM Home Networking Solutions unit. As a market leader in the home networking industry, Home Director has built a successful business focusing on both leading edge technologies and strategic channel development. Additional information about the company can be found at www.homedirector.net. About Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, CA and additional information about the company can be found at www.cisco.com. Coactive Networks Unveils the First Full-Service Residential Gateway The Coactive Connector 3000 to Champion the Next Generation in Home Networking with a Wide Range of E-services for the Home San Diego, CA, May 3, 2000 — Coactive Networks, the leading provider of residential gateways for connecting the Internet to all devices in homes and businesses, today unveiled the Coactive Connector® 3000 Series, the first full-service residential gateway, designed to enhance productivity and simplify everyday life for millions of consumers worldwide. The Coactive Connector 3000 Series links a single Internet connection to multiple PCs, household appliances, electronic devices, and systems such as home security – giving consumers access to a wide range of unprecedented e-services. The residential gateway market is being driven by home networking technologies and high-speed Internet access via DSL and cable modems. Service providers, such as utility, cable and telecommunications companies, will use the residential gateway to win customers by offering them a compelling array of bundled services. "The residential gateway is a key part of extending the availability of Internet applications across multiple devices to all desired locations in the home," said Tricia Parks, president of Parks Associates, a co-sponsor of Connections 2000. "The Coactive Connector 3000 design offers a simple, integrated solution that delivers shared Internet access along with integrated connectivity to all of the other devices and appliances in the home, enabling a smorgasbord of new services beyond e-mail and web surfing." "The Coactive Connector 3000 will ignite a new era in home connectivity – transforming the Internet from an information-gathering tool to a truly sophisticated instrument that gives consumers a profound level of convenience and control in their everyday lives," said David Gaw, president of Coactive Networks. "This first-of-its-kind full-service residential gateway delivers on the promise of the ‘smart home,’ not just for the affluent, but for millions of mainstream households." Telemetry E-services: Making the Home of the Future A Reality Today With the Coactive Connector 3000 Series, home devices can access and exchange data with other devices via the Internet, and just as importantly, consumers can access home information remotely using a Web browser or wireless phone. As an Internet access device, the Coactive Connector 3000 allows multiple PCs to share a single Internet connection from any phone jack in the house. However, the true value of the Coactive gateway is in taking the Internet beyond PCs altogether in the form of telemetry e-services. Telemetry e-services use the residential gateway to give common household devices an Internet interface so consumers can see what's happening at home—and take action from afar. Telemetry e-services connect consumers to their homes, allowing them to remotely check in on elderly relatives, see whether they left the stove or iron on, remotely disable the security system to let a neighbor in, or receive instant alerts upon detection of intrusion, water leaks or unusual temperatures. As deregulation across the telecommunication and energy industries presses forward, the Coactive Connector 3000 Series provides a flexible yet cost-effective platform that utility and broadband service providers can use to gain an important foothold in the new digital home. By expanding value with consumers, these service providers can gain new revenue streams while creating a key competitive advantage in the rapidly changing marketplace. The Coactive Connector 3000: A New Era in Home Networking The Coactive Connector 3000 Series supports no less than three home networking media, communicating to every phone jack and electrical outlet in the home, as well as connecting directly to systems such as security and climate control. By activating this web of connectivity throughout the home, the Coactive Connector 3000 is able to reach every PC, appliance, electrical outlet, and control system. By adding intelligence to these devices and providing a connection to the Internet, the gateway enables the delivery of multiple services such as shared Internet access, home security, home medical care, appliance monitoring, energy metering, and home automation. By incorporating the patent-pending distributed object technology of Coactive’s IOConnect Architecture, the Coactive Connector 3000 enables service providers to deploy a single infrastructure that is scalable to millions of homes. The Coactive Connector 3000 Series will be available in a desktop version for easy hook-up to DSL or cable modems, and is competitively priced for mass-market deployment by service providers. General availability of the first product in the Coactive Connector 3000 Series is scheduled for Q3 2000. To date, Coactive’s commercial and residential gateway solutions have been integrated into a host of next-generation service provider offerings. Sensel AB, a Swedish communications company, plans to deploy the Coactive Connector solution to more than 400,000 homes over the next two years. Additionally, companies like Genentech and Motorola leverage Coactive’s commercial solutions to monitor energy usage, regulate temperature settings and centralize building monitoring systems. Building on this steady stream of successes, the Coactive Connector 3000 Series will usher in an exciting new era of communication options for the home. In other news today, DTE Energy Technologies has selected Coactive Networks as the premier supplier of a complete gateway solution for delivering e-services to its business customers. DTE Energy Technologies, a subsidiary of DTE Energy Company and an affiliate of Detroit Edison, the nation’s seventh largest electric utility, will initially use the Coactive Connector gateway to roll out two innovative service bundles, energy|now and safety|now. About Coactive Networks Coactive Networks extends Internet access to every device, appliance, control system and computer – connecting networks to the real world. The Coactive Connector® and Coactive Router product families deliver a new class of telemetry e-services to homes and businesses worldwide. The leader in Internet telemetry, Coactive Networks delivers affordable, scalable connectivity with a highly integrated third-generation residential gateway platform and the patent-pending distributed object technology of the IOConnect Architecture(tm). Coactive is a privately held corporation based in Sausalito, California. More information on Coactive can be found at http://www.coactive.com. Echelon Presents Diverse Applications for the Digital Home at CONNECTIONS™ 2000 San Diego, CA, May 4, 2000 — At the CONNECTIONS™ 2000 conference today, Echelon Corporation is showcasing the comfort, security, convenience, cost savings, and peace-of-mind benefits that homes networked with the company's LONWORKS® system bring to homeowners and service providers. The demonstration at CONNECTIONS includes remote access to a private beach house in Capitola, California, networked with the LONWORKS platform and connected to the Internet with an i.LON™ 1000 Internet Server. The Capitola house, designed by smart-home consulting company cyberManor, includes Internet access and control of the home's heating furnace, living room lights, and hot tub from anywhere in the world using a standard web browser. "Our goal is to provide homeowners with the very best integrated solutions for modernizing their homes," stated Gordon van Zuiden, president of cyberManor. "As the leading solution for networking everyday devices and the best quality Internet server available on the market today, Echelon's LONWORKS networks and i.LON are a great fit for us in designing Web-controlled home automation systems. The i.LON and the various off-the-shelf LONWORKS enabled products made it very easy for us to implement this application. For homeowners it is very compelling to be able to turn the heat up in your home remotely from the office or on the road. No more wasted energy or walking into a cold house." Reza Raji, director of business development at Echelon, added, "The Capitola beach house is a great example of how the i.LON and LONWORKS networks can enable practical, useful and fun applications for the home. Think about it: you've just had a tough day at work, and you start looking forward to relaxing in your hot tub when you get home. Just log on to the Internet, go to your home's own user-secure web page, turn on your hot tub, and it will be ready for you when you walk in the door." During CONNECTIONS, Raji is serving on a conference panel called "Advancing Home Controls: Another Role for the Internet." In Sun Microsystems' booth, Echelon and Sun are demonstrating how LONWORKS networks and Sun's Java Embedded Server(TM) (JES) platform work together to create new business opportunities for cable companies, telecommunications companies, Internet service providers, utilities and others. Specifically, companies can now deliver value-added services over the Internet that are able to interact with residential LONWORKS networks. In addition to the Capitola beach house, Echelon is demonstrating Web control for the i.LON connected heating, lighting, blinds, and security system at the Integer House in the UK and remote controlled blinds and lighting fixtures in its own demo room located in the company's Palo Alto, California headquarters. CONNECTIONS™ 2000, the premier conference and showcase for home networks and gateways, will be held May 3-5, 2000 in San Diego at the Sheraton Harbor Island. CONNECTIONS™ explores the business, marketing, and technical issues facing residential gateways, home networks, and key ensuing applications. Now in its fourth year, CONNECTIONS™ 2000 will feature presentations from manufacturers of network components and attached products, standards bearers, and services providers. More information can be found at http://www.connectionsconference.com. About Echelon Corporation Echelon Corporation is the developer of LONWORKS networks, recognized internationally as a standard for open, interoperable control networks. With thousands of application developers and millions of devices installed worldwide, LONWORKS is the leading cross-industry standard for networking everyday devices in building and home automation, industrial, transportation, and public utility applications. Echelon offers a full range of off-the-shelf hardware and software products to support the development, installation and management of intelligent, open and interoperable control networks. Products that have been verified to conform to Echelon's LONMARK(R) interoperability guidelines are eligible to carry the LONMARK logo, an indicator that a product has been designed to interoperate over a LONWORKS network. Echelon is based in Palo Alto, California, with international offices in China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Further information can be found at http://www.echelon.com. Further information about the LONMARK Interoperability Association can be found at http://www.lonmark.org. About cyberManor cyberManor is a Silicon Valley computer service company dedicated to designing and implementing home computer networks and broadband internet access services. The company is privately held and derives revenues from business partnerships and premium services. The company, located in Monte Sereno, California was founded in 1998. More information can be found at http://www.cybermanor.com. Echelon, LONWORKS, LONMARK, Digital Home, and the Echelon logo are trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. LNS and i.LON are trademarks of Echelon Corporation. Other marks belong to their respective holders. If you have news that was released at CONNECTIONS™, please e-mail information to Elizabeth Parks. For more information, please contact Steve Harvey at 972-490-1113 or via e-mail at harvey@parksassociates.com. |