Philips Research - Technologies
New developments in software for the connected home |
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For home networks to be welcomed in the consumer world, they must be
intuitive and easy to use. Responding to this need, Philips Research
has been active for several years in the Audio/Video Workgroup of the
UPnP* Forum and its Steering Committee. The philosophy underlying UPnP
is exceptional ‘ease-of-use’ for consumers. In the future, a consumer
will be able to buy an item of equipment designed to operate with his
home network, take it home, plug in and immediately start using it.
It will be even simpler to set up than the consumer equipment he buys
today since the equipment will be automatically configured into the
network without need for any user intervention.
The basic setup of a UPnP-enabled audio/video network will probably usually comprise one or more media servers, media renderers and a control point or universal remote-control unit that automatically sets up the data streaming connection between the media server and media renderer. The new Philips iPronto universal remote control is designed to fit in this concept. It is capable of automatically registering the presence of all UPnP-enabled players in the home and to instruct them to play programme material from any UPnP-enabled storage medium. The user interface can be customized by logging onto the Philips web site where a selection of icons and user interfaces can be downloaded and installed. All features described require advanced software for connected consumer systems, a key interest in Philips’ software research programme. *UPnP is the Universal Plug-and-Play standard supported by more than 500 companies worldwide
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