The luxury apartment complex here is a showcase for Samsung Electronics' burgeoning digital home business--an idea that once was dismissed as a pie-in-the-sky but now is starting to gain traction. Besides refrigerators, Samsung Tower's $1 million-plus apartments are outfitted with Internet-enabled ovens, security cameras and wall-mounted flat-panel displays.
Samsung has sold more than 6,000 networked homes in South Korea, and now it's eager to export its success. The company has tests under way in Canada, Australia and Europe, and it recently struck deals with two U.S.-based home builders to conduct digital home trials in the United States. According to Samsung, wiring homes in the United States with the necessary networking gear will cost from $2,000 to $10,000--making adoption more affordable.
"We are focusing on the (new-home) market," said Yong Duk Yoon, vice president for Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology.
Technology and consumer electronics companies have tried to peddle the home of the future for years. But wider use of broadband Internet access in the United States, a greater affinity for digital media, and more "smart" products and types of networks are bringing the digital home closer to reality.
"The value proposition for customers is pretty attractive," said Van Baker, an analyst with research firm Gartner. "Price is not an obstacle. It is just ease of use and ease of configuration."
Last year, a group of companies driven by Intel and Sony formed the Digital Home Working Group--a consortium dedicated to drafting guidelines that will make it easier for consumer electronics and computing devices to work together...
...An estimated 26.9 million Americans now have broadband Internet access. Federal agencies are working on policies to meet a goal set by President Bush to make high-speed Internet access available to all Americans by 2007. The Federal Communications Commission is looking to establish wireless as a third broadband option in the United States.
Many experts expect the use of broadband access to propel the adoption of the digital home, because it will allow consumers to access digital media and commerce from more devices as well as encourage companies to make their music and videos available online.
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