Enter Internet Home Alliance, a diverse group of technology-related companies working together to bring an awareness of the Internet lifestyle to existing and future homeowners. Some 30-plus members currently comprise the Alliance, ranging from household name retailers to small niche technology firms. The member companies, which include names like Cisco Systems, General Motors Corp., Invensys, The NewPower Company, Panasonic, Sears, Roebuck and Co., Best Buy, and Sun Microsystems, share a mission to make the Internet and technology accessible and useful to families' lives.
"There's a lot of interesting activity around products and services aimed at the home that are driven by the Internet," says Bill Kenney, president of Internet Home Alliance and vice president of emerging home solutions for Sears, Roebuck and Co. "But the complexity and heavy emphasis on technology are confusing to consumers in terms of what it all means and what relevance it has to their lives."
Consequently, the Alliance is focusing its efforts on reducing homeowner confusion and educating them about how connected technology can bring convenience, as well as time and cost savings to their lives. The three areas in which the Alliance believes homeowners will benefit most from an Internet-connected home revolve around work, family, and entertainment.
Consumers are already starting to understand how networking PCs can boost productivity in the office. More than 22 million homes have multiple PCs, and 10 million homes have a broadband connection to the Internet. Computers connected by a broadband Ethernet network share printers, scanners and an Internet connection, reducing the number of peripherals you need to buy for each PC. And as advances in wireless networking technology free people from their desks, new "un-connected" opportunities arise.
Connectivity in the home goes beyond home computing. Computer equipment from diverse manufacturers has long been able to network. The challenge of creating similar "plug-n-play" compatibility between a home's computers, lighting systems, electrical systems, and heating and cooling systems, for example, is a more diverse arena. The Alliance's ability to bridge different manufacturers' technologies—helping them work together to create viable solutions to merge Internet capabilities with homeowners' needs—provides opportunities for homeowners to safely integrate new technologies into their homes.
Case-in-point: The Internet can have a big impact on a family's finances. As energy concerns continue to grow, the Internet will play a significant role in managing energy resources. "You're starting to see the Internet penetrate the utility and energy-saving areas of the home through heating and cooling systems and through links that let you remotely control your thermostat settings," says Kenney.
The Alliance is actively engaged in testing new technology solutions. For instance, the Alliance is sponsoring a pilot program with 500 homes in the Houston area to help control residential energy use. Participating households have a residential gateway and an Internet-controlled thermostat that allows Alliance-member NewPower Company to remotely increase the temperature settings of homes up to 6 degrees, thus avoiding brownouts during peak demand times. "By leveling that demand, the energy company is able to significantly reduce the cost structure so that the homeowner can realize up to 15 percent savings on every energy bill," Kenney says.
Many connected home technologies have long been available, but with price tags that made them unobtainable to the average homeowner. Now, the market is mainstream. Home integrators regularly install structured wiring (a data- and video-capable suite of wiring that forms the backbone for many Interent-related solutions) in homes with sub-$100,000 price tags. Look for the Alliance to work on more pilots over the coming years that will lead to products and services that enhance the family lifestyle--without breaking the budget. Appliances connected via an Internet network, for instance, will be able to provide a status report if a product needs servicing or if a software upgrade is needed. Technicians will be able to diagnose networked appliances from a remote location and in some cases avert a costly service call.
Household entertainment will also benefit from a connected home. Audio hard disk products that store thousands of hours of MP3 files now enable music lovers to free music they've stored onto their PC and send it to connected stereo systems throughout the house. The same CDs can be played in the car, where real time traffic reports are continually updated and delivered to the driver. Digital pictures stored on a PC or Web site can be displayed on any video monitor in the networked home. And a broadband networked home opens the door for true video on demand in the future, when you'll be able to download any movie any time for rent or purchase.
In the connected home, management and monitoring become simplified—either from within the home or remotely using an Internet-linked computer or Web-enabled devices like cellphones or personal digital assistants. Security cameras can be monitored on any video source in the home—or via the Internet from afar. Doors can be unlocked from an office PC to grant access to service providers. Vacation homes can be remotely monitored for everything from security status to temperature.
The Internet promises to deliver great lifestyle advances to homeowners. In order for the transition to occur smoothly, companies need to work together. "The biggest challenge right now is that there's too much emphasis on technology and not enough emphasis on the consumer," says Kenney. "We're working on behalf of the consumer to think about the real, unmet needs they have and then apply creativity to determine how the Internet and broadband-enabled products and services can best respond to those needs."
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