Linksys Executive Malachy Moynihan Discusses Home Networking Trends
October 11, 2006
In the "Connected Home," affordable, easy-to-use products are allowing home users to take advantage of powerful networking technologies such as Voice over IP (VoIP) and wireless networking to enjoy an ever-growing variety of activities. Malachy Moynihan, vice president and general manager of the Linksys Home Networking Business Unit, discussed home networking trends with News@Cisco.
What is the Connected Home?
Malachy Moynihan: The Connected Home is an environment that lets users share computing resources and blend communications and entertainment technologies. It's actually an evolving concept that was sparked about six years ago when people began to aggressively adopt broadband for home Internet connectivity. Broadband gave people enough bandwidth to share among multiple PCs, which naturally led to the desire to share files and peripherals such as printers or entertainment devices.
Once people realized how much value they could get from connecting their home computing environment, they wanted to branch out. Now folks want to connect other devices such as TVs and telephones to their network so they can access the content they want on the device they are most comfortable with using. The result is today's concept of the Connected Home. It's really about supporting a world where content is becoming increasingly digital, and letting people share music or photographs or whatever they want through a wide range of devices.
What are the biggest trends in home networking today?
Malachy Moynihan: I think the most important trend today is sharing different types of digital content between users and between devices. People want to share content that they've downloaded, such as downloaded music. They also want to share content they have created themselves, such as digital photography. Outside the PC realm, people would like to share content among different devices in the home. They want to watch video stored on a PC on their big-screen television, and transfer music from CDs to hard drives. The Connected Home will support all of those capabilities, and more.
What are the hottest home network products? Why are these the most popular?
Malachy Moynihan: The most popular products in this market allow people to share information faster and more easily. That's why Linksys is focusing on areas, such as wireless-N, that add even higher performance to the convenience of wireless networking.
VoIP is also a growing area for home use, and our customers can now enjoy the same VoIP benefits in the home that many have already experienced at the office. We sell some VoIP products directly, and others in partnership with companies such as Vonage and Earthlink.
We've also focused on network entertainment with products such as our media adapters, Wireless-G Music Bridge, and wireless game adapters. Our acquisition of KiSS Technology A/S of Hørsholm, Denmark last year significantly broadened our capability in that area, and we feel that we are now competitive with the top companies in this market.
What are the biggest challenges retailers face in selling home networking products?
Malachy Moynihan: One of our biggest challenges is reaching out to consumers who don't have a lot of experience with technology products and may be a bit skittish about purchasing networking gear. We want these customers, who may not be technologically savvy, to feel comfortable interacting with the products, so they can share music and video without being concerned with exactly how it is being done.
What are you doing to make home networking easier?
Malachy Moynihan: We start right at the retail outlet, with packaging that clearly explains the function of each product without technical jargon. We also provide training tools for the sales people at each retail outlet to help them answer any questions.
Most important, we make sure that inside each package is a product that is easy to set up, easy to use, and easy to manage. That's where a significant amount of our engineering effort goes today. For example, our new Linksys Easy Link Advisor (LELA) application automates much of the installation process for wireless routers. And if a customer has any questions, they can always contact our call centers for help.
What is the significance of the recent Linksys announcement with Target?
Malachy Moynihan: Linksys products are now available at Target stores nationwide, as well as at Target.com. We've worked hard to make sure that the patrons of retail stores understand this technology and are comfortable acquiring this technology, and Target's willingness to carry our brand vindicates those efforts.
The Target agreement builds on our success in retail chains such as Wal-Mart, where we've been selling home networking equipment such as routers, notebook adapters, and phone adapters very successfully for the past four years. We attribute a great deal of our success in this market to the significant steps we've taken to simplify the network setup and management functions of our products. We expect similar success at Target, which will join the more than 15,000 major retailers, computer retailers, and office superstores in the United States where Linksys products are sold.
What does the future of home networking hold for us?
Malachy Moynihan: The future is about ubiquitous connectivity inside the home, but achieving the Connected Home is really an evolutionary process. As broadband speed continues to improve, more services will be delivered over the Internet and that will encourage people to view the potential of broadband in new and exciting ways. Theoretically, you could have an application that scans incoming grocery items and pings your cell phone when the milk runs low. Realistically, I think we'll see more home network applications such as sending digital photos from your camera directly to your printer using a home wireless network, and using digital video cameras for cost-effective home monitoring through a Web site - both of which you can do now. Eventually, we'll start to see the Connected Home expand to other devices such as your thermostat and your lighting controls, all tied into your broadband connection. In the future, even TV programming will be delivered to your home over IP, and moved around inside the home over IP once it is delivered.
Without talking about specific products, the most important thing the future will hold is an environment where you can move digital content around the home without thinking about networking. It will be a natural part of your existence, just like plugging into any power outlet in the house and getting access to the same services. We're still in the early stages of the Connected Home, and there are no limits to what people will be able to achieve with this technology.
