Tech giants ally for 'digital living'

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A group of 145 global electronics companies plans to announce on Tuesday an alliance to support the development of computers, home electronics and mobile devices that share digital content with one another.
The group, to be called the Digital Living Network Alliance, aims to develop the fledgling market for electronic devices that can easily send and share music, movies, television programs across the home.

The alliance will publish guidelines for building compliant consumer electronics and will establish a seal of approval for products that meet those guidelines. A logo for certified products will be available early next year.

The creation of the alliance comes exactly a year after Intel, Sony and other tech giants teamed up to promote a shared vision of consumer electronics.

Their organization, which had been called the Digital Home Working Group when it remained a less formal body, rapidly expanded as companies sought ways to tap into growing interest in digital content like music and video in the home.

"We pretty quickly realized that if everybody produced proprietary products here you have a missed opportunity," said Bob Gregory, an Intel executive on the group's board.

Despite early successes with portable music players that connect to home PCs, the notion of a "digital home" promoted heavily by companies like Intel has been mostly a mirage.

Fewer than 6 percent of Internet-connected homes have connected their home stereo or game console to their home computer network, according to a poll by market researcher Diffusion Group.

The Digital Living Network Alliance includes companies that make PCs, mobile phones, and other consumer electronics.

The group is a collection of odd bedfellows. Members Microsoft and Nokia are fierce competitors in developing software for mobile phones, while IBM and Hewlett-Packard slug it out over computer sales.

Yet by agreeing upon standards, developing a logo, and supporting "plugfests" where devices from various companies can be tested for interoperability, the group hopes to create a major opportunity for all of its members.

Though PC companies have developed standards for audio, video, and networking, few consumer electronics products work with one another, a barrier the group is eager to address

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Source : http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5243264.html

This sorta reminds me of the movie AntiTrust.

I think there are a few issues both good and bad that I can see coming from this.

(good)
1 - I feel that this will be able to make technology cheaper for the masses and make technology more readily available and more of the 'norm' then it is already.

(good)
2 - I see great advances in security because whenever there is an advance in technology people will be there to try and steal it or wreck it so the security may become more advanced.

(bad)
3 - We don't need anymore Monopolies in the market. I don't want be told I have to buy a certain type of [insert item here] and I can only buy it from that company for that much money.


- MilitantEidolon