Axentra Net-Box Home Network Appliance

[James Fee]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.axentra.com/products/multifunc_server_appliances/home_series_net-box/' target='_blank'>http://www.axentra.com/products/multifunc_server_appliances/home_series_net-box/</a><br /><br /></div>Remember those days of "<a href="http://www.wiab.co.za/retail/graphics/box.jpg">website in a box</a>"? Well now we have "Home Network Appliance" in a box. The Net-Box was pretty popular at CES 2005, receiving a couple of awards. The Net-Box is Windows, Mac and Linux compatible and works as an Internet gateway, firewall, 802.11g access point, and web/email/file server. I'm not sure if it supports DRM WMA/WMV files, but then again I guess people just don't care about that. :roll: Anyway, it is a little short on storage space, but given the fact you can add USB 2.0 drives to the "box", one should be able to store as much as they need. Could this be the begining of a revolution, or a misguided attempt at another <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1040-254497.html?legacy=cnet">Audrey</a>? Personally I'd stay away from using the word appliance since usually it is associated with failures.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/4.jpg" />

[Felix Torres]

Its an Audrey.
Techies want home servers.
Consumers want connected gizmos.
Calling a server an appliance doesn't make it anything but what it is; a server.

The handwriting was on the CES wall this month; home networks may or not include PCs, but they are *being* built around network-enabled versions of consumer-familiar hardware. Connected DVD players and burners, PVRs, consoles, and TVs will make up the bulk of home network nodes. I'm not even sure the dedicated receivers and extenders will have much of a future, long term; Digital media streaming is turning into a *feature* of products consumers buy, not standalone products.

There may be a market for home network servers but I'm thinking it won't be big.

More likely, the devices will come their own storage and/or USB2 ports and firmware that will allow extra external storage to be directly connected; this will leverage the economies of scale of the PC business without turning the product into a PC.

If I'm right, the first test should appear later this year as we start seeing network-capable TVs. Judging by the price differential between the network capable boxes now available and their unconnected counterparts, the incremental manufacturing cost is very low, while the markup and profit is respectable (around $100).

So, yes, I think the comparison to the internet frenzy is appropriate; fortunes are about to be made and lost on home networking over the next couple of years. But I suspect the end result will look very similar to what existed before, just more interconnected.
(Kinda like what happened with the web.)
That'll be two cents.

[Macguy59]

Who cares about whether it supports DRM wma/wmv? Well count as one who desn't.

[James Fee]

Who cares about whether it supports DRM wma/wmv? Well count as one who desn't.Then what is the point of windows support? Windows support to me means support of the default windows DRM. Sure I could have added lack of support for iTunes DRM also. Talk about a non starter. A true "appliance" would support such technology.

[Felix Torres]

Windows support to me means support of the default windows DRM. Sure I could have added lack of support for iTunes DRM also. Talk about a non starter. A true "appliance" would support such technology.

Especially when several non-PC devices on the market *already* support Windows Media DRM, with more on the way.

Too many of these products are built around what the manufacturer can deliver, rather than what the customer needs.
Sometimes this leads to features nobody uses.
Sometimes it leads to missing necessities.
This is the latter; like it or not, DRM support is a customer need.
With folks buying DRM'ed music all over, anybody who pretends to support a home network has to accomodate the customer's content. Not everybody gets their music off P2P, after all...

[James Fee]

Especially when several non-PC devices on the market *already* support Windows Media DRM, with more on the way.

Too many of these products are built around what the manufacturer can deliver, rather than what the customer needs.
Well that is just it. I think deep down, the killer app here is Windows Media Connect (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/wmconnect/default.aspx). Doesn't matter what device people have, it will connect to the PC that the average consumer already has running in their house. A server is cool, but do people really need one?

[Felix Torres]

Dunno.
I built my deskside PC to be server from the ground up and even I'm not sure the server is needed, long term.
Not with Media Center PCs finally morphing into *quiet* A/V gear form factors.
And then, the next generation Media Hubs don't even need the PC; they come with native USB 2.0 external drive support. So a hub and external drive will cost less than a plain PC, plus be simpler to use. And you don't even have to worry about the network.
Even PC phobes can use that.