HP ships digital entertainment hub

From...

By Matt Berger

(IDG) -- After years of targeting the office, Hewlett-Packard (HP) now wants a place in your living room.

The hardware maker based in Palo Alto, California, has begun shipping its new Internet-ready Digital Entertainment Center. It's a device designed to sit in a living room and let users tune into Internet radio stations, record digital songs on CDs and watch streaming video on a television set.

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HP's Digital Entertainment Center de100c -- which resembles a set-top box or typical stereo component -- can be connected to the Internet through most existing dial-up or broadband connections. It comes with a V.90 modem and an Ethernet connection.

The device, however, can't connect to the Internet using AOL Time Warner's dial-up service or AOL-owned CompuServe Interactive Services' dial-up service, because of their proprietary systems, said George Prokop, a product manager with HP's digital entertainment. (AOL Time Warner is the parent company of both CompuServe and CNN.com.)

The device isn't compatible, either, with free ISPs which -- in order to connect to the Internet -- require the launching of a browser for displaying banner ads, he added.

"This is HP's first product targeted at the heart of the living room," he said.

With a price tag of about $1,000, the new device is the first to come from HP's foray into the personal digital entertainment market, Prokop said. First unveiled in June, the device follows similar initiatives from other major PC vendors as they look to diversify their product lines beyond the PC. For instance, Apple Computer has unveiled its new iPod MP3 player, and Compaq Computer has released a component similar to HP's called the iPaq Music Center, which stores digital music and is connected to the Internet.

"Typically we're more known in the corporate space and in the home office," Prokop said. "But we believe that we have a lot of strength in areas to build on that allow us to be a brand name in the living room."

"Clearly we want customers to take advantage of their existing ISPs," he said, noting HP will "continue to investigate" new ISP partnerships.

Initially, HP is working with RealNetworks to provide entertainment services through the Internet appliance. RealNetworks software included with the device gives users the ability to search Internet radio stations around the world, to purchase MP3s electronically, and to watch music videos, movie trailers, and other digital content.

The de100c comes with a small built-in display that allows users to navigate its features and manage the music library as well as a remote control. It can also hook up to the TV set for viewing video content.

"The TV element is very handy as you set it up and organize the content," Prokop said. "It has the power of the PC but it takes advantage of the ease of use of the entertainment center."

HP and RealNetworks teamed up to design a TV user interface with which users can navigate the available features. The device makes use of the RealJukebox and RealPlayer to play and stream video and music content.

The component can also store as many as 750 CDs, or about 9,000 tracks, in its 40GB hard drive. Equipped with a CD burner, the de100c enables users to manage MP3 files and create their own music CDs. Its built-in USB ports -- two in the back and one on the face of the device -- let users download songs from the device onto a handheld device or portable MP3 player.

HP plans to launch other services through the device, besides the one from RealNetworks. "Because of the Internet capabilities we can continue to add new features, new partners, new content," Prokop said.