Smart Home Lifestyle
June 24, 2006
“D-Link” to Total Home Entertainment
Networking isn’t just about computers anymore, video, music
and digital photos can now be accessed just as easily on your living
room TV as on your office PC. And now, with wireless units, it’s
never been simpler to listen to 80’s MP3 music files on the “good” speakers,
watch home movies of the kids, or show off summer trip photos on the “biggest
screen” in the house.
So, why the popularity?
MediaLounge is something to get
excited about. Finally, a product
that’s evolving with changing
technologies while looking out for emerging ones. And D-Link’s
no secret; 100,000 MediaLounge units have shipped worldwide to consumers
since the release date 18 months ago.
“Hitting the 100,000th unit shipped plateau is a major milestone
for D-Link and our MediaLounge product line, which is taking a strong
position in both technical innovation and market share in the emerging
digital home segment,” said Steven Joe, president and CEO of D-Link
Systems, Inc. “We see the digital home entertainment products
heading toward mainstream adoption as the technology continues to evolve
and converge networking-based platforms that tightly integrate and deliver
music, movie and video entertainment services.”
D-Link is on the right track. According to CEA’s “5 Technologies
to Watch” report, even through consumer demand for larger, thinner
and high definition (HDTV) TV continues to grow at a steady rate, it’s
really servicing as “the catalyst for other technology evolution
as well, namely digital content that can be shared and viewed throughout
the home network of TVs, PCs, iPods and other portable devices, and
the Internet.”
So, what else does it do?
MediaLounge is like an extension
of your computer, but it gives
some home theater basics like a
progressive scan DVD player that recognizes many digital formats including
CD-RW, DVD-RW, CD and MP3 discs. Progressive scan helps keep DVD images
sharp and flicker-free. Plus, MediaLounge has a built in 5-in-1 card
reader, so you can check out stored digital media on your memory card.
But that’s just the beginning. MediaLounge puts you in control
of videos, music and photographs from your TV or any networked computer.
Thanks to the simple menu, choose MP3 music files or video from organized
folders, or view a “photo album” of snapshots. MediaLounge
even lets you rotate photos on the screen or zoom in and out.
There’s even an option for online media access. “Dial-in” to
listen to online radio stations or download music from sites like Rhapsody,
Napster, MyKidsTunes.com and TotalVid. The easy-to-use interface even
has picture-in-picture so you can search the menu while watching videos.
And you get a “tivo-like” remote that has shortcut buttons
for “music,” “video” and “pictures.”
How about the setup?
Setup is a snap. Simply download
the enclosed software onto
your PC and MediaLounge pretty much
does the rest. MediaLounge recognizes your network settings and guides
you through a quick setup menu- about 30 minutes in my case, including
wiring it to my receiver.
And connections? MediaLounge has got it covered. S-Video, optical
audio, composite and component video, composite audio and coax audio
options make hook-up a breeze. MediaLounge supports 802.11g wireless
networking to stream media at a maximum wireless signal of up to 54Mbps.
You can also stream media via Ethernet, so it can also be used with
a wired network system.
Author: Diana Kostigen, Marketing/Public Relations Director, Comtec
