VCs Hope to See Wi-Fi Everywhere

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The office conquered, Wi-Fi is now making a beeline for the living room with attempts to deliver high-definition video to the television from set-top boxes, PCs, or DVD players. Samsung and Philips already offer Wi-Fi chips in televisions for standard-definition content. In late July, Cisco (CSCO), which has a pretty hefty stake in Wi-Fi with its Linksys-brand routers, led a $16 million round for Celeno Communications, a startup trying to make Wi-Fi-based home entertainment networks a reality. It's worth noting that several other technical standards are trying to win out when it comes to replacing the wires associated with televisions and their accoutrements. Those include ultra-wideband, wireless HD, and the newly formed WHDI Special Interest Group.

More Potential

Eric Zimits, a managing director with Granite Ventures, says the market for cable replacement between the TV and DVD player might end up using a specialized standard developed by the consumer electronics device makers, but he also says Wi-Fi provides more value by allowing content to move between more devices around the home. Standards such as ultra-wideband and wireless HD only travel distances of a few feet, making it impossible to use them to send a movie playing on the DVD player to a TV elsewhere in the home. In contrast, standards such as Wi-Fi or WHDI would make it possible to have just one set-top box that could wirelessly transmit content to all home screens.

The final potential home networking coup for Wi-Fi would be in the home-automation market, where emerging standards such as Zigbee and Z-wave are trying to succeed. As Wi-Fi sheds its power-sucking problems, it could also wirelessly control battery-powered thermostats, surveillance cameras, and other sensors. As your home fills up with gadgets running on the Wi-Fi network, venture firms will need to look for startups that can set bandwidth priorities among devices so that your television signal doesn't break up when your thermostat kicks on.

Provided by GigaOm—