0425.1 Hot Topics

McAfee, Inc. Provides Increased Levels of Detection for Spam With Monthly Rules Set Engine Updates

0426.2 Story of the Issue

WiFi Planet Spring 2004

0426.3 Software

ART VPS supports hardware ray tracing

0426.4 Semiconductor

GE Global Research Develops World's Best Performing Carbon Nanotube Diode; Nano-Diode is One of the Smallest Devices Ever Made

0426.5 Digital Media

Emerging Digital Formats Show Immense Potential Despite Initial Resistance

0426.6 Environment

HP Sets Goal to Recycle 1 Billion Pounds of Electronic Waste by 2007; Company aims to double current total amount recycled since 1987

0426.7 Home Appliances

Enabled Products Slowly but Surely Making the Home 'Smarter' Reports In-Stat/MDR

0426.8 Wireless

High-Speed Wireless Internet Service is Now Available in More Than 3,100 Starbucks Coffeehouses Nationwide as T- Mobile HotSpot Locations Are Added to Stores in Five States

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0426.1 Hot Topics

***McAfee, Inc. Provides Increased Levels of Detection for Spam With Monthly Rules Set Engine Updates

SANTA CLARA, Calif.
July 6

McAfee, Inc., announced that McAfee SpamKiller for Mail Servers and McAfee SpamKiller appliances now deliver more granular levels of detection with monthly rules set engine updates (RENUs). With Monthly RENUs, McAfee SpamKiller can offer small to large businesses enhanced accuracy in recognizing spam, helping to eliminate the problem of unwanted email, reduce potential legal liability, reclaim network bandwidth and allow employees to work more efficiently. McAfee SpamKiller, which is part of the McAfee Secure Content Management solutions group, is designed to deliver secure content management technology at the edge of the network to help businesses optimize resources, increase productivity and reduce their exposure to threats.

McAfee SpamKiller delivers spam protection and performance with an out-of-box highly accurate scoring system to determine whether a particular email is spam. With the extensive set of rules that run behind McAfee SpamKiller, each email receives a positive or negative score to determine its overall spam rating, and once spam is detected, messages are either delivered to the end-users inbox, personal junk mail folder or a system-wide junk folder.

With monthly RENUs, McAfee offers tangible improvements in detection, including new updates that offer:

-- One hundred new spam rules from the SpamAssassin open source engine

-- Rules that are in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions labeling standards for sexually explicit spam

-- URL rules, which identify email messages that contain spam URL addresses that are inserted into the body of the message

-- A rule to prevent the Sober.h, a "spambot Trojan," which was responsible for June's avalanche of hate-mail spam

Availability

Monthly RENUs will be released at the end of each month commencing July 2004. For more information on McAfee SpamKiller for Mail Servers or McAfee SpamKiller Appliances, please visit

http://www.mcafeesecurity.com

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0426.2 Story of the Issue

***WiFi Planet Spring 2004
By John Latta

Baltimore, MD
June 9 – 10, 2004

Is the WiFi/WiMAX industry becoming saturated – or have the possibilities for wireless computer communications been exhausted? The WAVE was a bit surprised at the lack of industry and public interest at WiFi Planet Spring 2004. Never-the-less, there were interesting, sometimes riveting, discussions about the future of wireless communications.

Open Source Mesh Networking on a Roll

There was a panel on mesh networking which included: StrixSystems and BelAir Networks. Each described high end implementations of mesh networking in a commercial environment. It was stated, by others, that their node boxes run $2k to $3k.

Last on the panel was Kenny Bain of FastLine Internet. He had a MeshBox with him that was based on a VIA EPIA VE5000 Mini-ITX board and a SMC PCMCIA card. As Kenny said “Everything we do is about price.” The box only costs $500 or less.

Kenny described how he is implementing an open source based mesh network for the town of Vivian, LA. It is a compelling story that has digital connectivity starting at $9.99/month and with consumer installed CPE at only $100.

Vivian, LA is a town of 4,000. The local phone company, CenturyTel, would not offer DSL and the cable company, CMA Cable Vision, likewise had no interest in broadband – the town was a part of the digital divide. Based only on $25,000 and insights from the October 2002 issue of Wired magazine, Kenny launched an effort to bring mesh networking to the town. A break came when his company secured position on the tower for KTAL Channel 6 which overlooked the town. This provides visibility to 75 percent of the city. There are two sectors, implemented in two antennas, to cover most of the town.

Most of the homes are under a tree canopy. FastLine Internet placed MeshBoxes in sections of the town with LOS visibility to the tower. The multipoint link to the homes actually went under the trees. Consumers can now connect to the network using any 802.11b or g device but it is strongly recommended that an Engenius CB-3 be used. This is an 802.11b Ethernet bridge which can be bought at the local Radio Shack store. It was stated that the range for indoors placement of the bridge is 800’ to 1,500’, between the indoor box and the outdoor MeshBox.

The service tiers are:

64kbps Residential: $9.99 each month
256kbps Residential: $24.99 each month
1024kbps Residential: $39.99 each month
1024kbps Commercial: $59.99 each month

Experience has shown that those that sign up for the $9.99 service migrate to the 256k because of performance and affordability.

There are three gateways into the network: one T-1 and two DSL connections. MeshBox uses a 2048-bit encryption key over a VPN for security.

A major break came to FastLine Internet when the Shreveport Times published an article on Vivian township’s efforts, on July 27, 2003, to go wireless. As Kenny said, the next day CenturyTel had DSL running in the town. But FastLine Internet is not about competing with the incumbents. Vivian is a town whose residents have limited resources, and MeshBox’s efforts are about making digital connectivity available to as many as possible. CMA Cable Vision now offers broadband at $34.95 per month plus $9.95 per month to rent a cable modem or $99.95 to purchase a cable modem. FastLine is not a competitor to such an offering.

The center of the mesh network offering is the MeshBox and this is based on open source from the LocustWorld in the UK. Kenny praised the quality of the software from LocustWorld and its rate of change to fix issues and add features. The network management functions are also impressive. These include remote web based configuration of the boxes and mesh management system for complete control and diagnostics of an entire set of nodes from a single web page. Monitoring includes local loading and usage of each node as well as network topology and client mac address logging. The software will scan for possible sources of interference and produce a remote site survey statistics.

LocustWorld is working with VIA on a new generation box which uses the VIA Eden-N processor, a smaller and lower power processor, which will support improved security using PadLock ACE cryptography.

At the recent Computex, LocustWorld showed its VoIP switchboard, which routes calls to SIP phones, over the mesh network. (Apparently this was in the VIA booth.) LocustWorld is adding functionality to its offering which will support incoming and outgoing calls with the public telephone network and allowing mesh operators to support full featured PBX capabilities including voice-mail, call waiting, voice-mail to e-mail, conference calling, call queuing and automated attendant applications.

FastLine Internet has now extended the mesh between the towns of Vivian, LA, and Linden, TX, with a cross link from the tower. The intent is to expand the mesh into the Dallas area as well with a strategic partnership with Netlight Communications. Oil City, Mooringsport, and Blanchard are towns planed get future service in 2004.

As Kenny said – we are just break even now. The ability to reach profitability will come as we expand the network.

The potential for open source mesh networking does not stop in Louisiana. FastLine Internet has gained considerable experience with the software and how to make it work operationally. They are in the process of filling the open source void – technical support. Following the model of Red Hat, FastLine is in the process of starting LocustWorldUSA, as reflected in the limited web site of that same name, which will be a support organization in the US for LocustWorld open source mesh networking.

BelAir Argues it is WiMAX+WiFi+Mesh

Increasingly the concept of a “wireless city” is emerging. In many instances this is driven by city governments to overcome the lack of broadband access. A whole session was devoted to Cerritos, CA, and its efforts to become a HotZone. Some examples are emerging where WiFi is playing the access role and possibly fulfilling the all the technology requirements. But, WiFi has scaling limitations. Others see WiMAX as the technology which solves these problems

In a keynote address, Bernard Herscovich, President and CEO of BelAir Networks pointed out weaknesses in WiFi and WiMAX. It was his proposition that only by combining mesh networking will WiFi and WiMAX possibly cover dense urban areas with wireless.

Bernard called this the “Big Stick” approach. This is analogous to a vertical pole with an omni-directional antenna on the top. It is his premise that a “new” architecture is required to solve the needs of denser urban environments. He proposes a “multiple point-to-point wireless mesh” that uses both WiFi and WiMAX. It is not coincidental that this is the approach BelAir uses in its products

Points that Bernard made in his talk include.

Wireless cities have an appeal for multiple reasons:

Support municipal services;

Support emergency services;

Show city leadership;

Provide continuity of broadband access;

Provide visitor/tourist access in key areas; and

Enable wireless for research or high value industrial parks.

This results in the following requirements:

Simple and cost effective to deploy over a large area;

Scalable with capacity to delivery value added services with carrier grade reliability; and

Compatible with low cost client devices.

WiFi has these limitations:

The indoor transmission range is limited to 50m;

To cover a large access area too many access points are required; and

Building penetration from the outside is poor

In WiMAX the usable data rate is based on frequency:

2 – 7Mb/s – 3.5GHz licensed band with 3.5MHz channels

4 – 15Mb/s – 10.5GHz using 7MHz channels

10 – 30+Mb/s – in 5GHz unlicensed band with 20MHz channels

Applying this to the MAN needs implies data rates of 70Mb/s and up to 30 miles (big stick approach) BUT

This requires an outdoor roof mounted antenna – which is expensive CPE.

Further -

If one assumes a 80sq mi area covered by a 4 sector antenna and 70Mb/s

The result is only .35Mb/sq mi. This will be adequate only in rural areas with a density of 2 residences/sq mi.

Improvements of 3 orders of magnitude are required to support urban densities.

Given that spectrum and modulation are fixed, the only way to increase capacity is to reduce range.

This means more cells.

As a result, there are many more access points and these need to be interconnected.

Reducing the WiMAX power for a range of .5m means that the net capacity rises to 50Mb/s per sector, with a sector area of .2sq mi.

This results in a system capacity of 240Mb/sq mi.

The result is 800X the capacity of the big stick approach above.

There is a close analogy with cellular technology.

In rural areas the cell radius is typically 15 – 25 miles

In urban areas the cell radius is 1 mile or less

Thus, the solution for the dense urban wireless problem is neither exclusively WiFi nor WiMAX.

What is required is multiple point-to-point mesh.

Each node has multiple radii

Client access is on a different frequency and totally independent of the backhaul mesh.

The BelAir approach has a WiFi cellular LAN architecture which uses 5GHz for backhaul and 2.4GHz for WiFi access

The next step is to combine WiMAX with WiFi. That is, use 802.11g for WiFi access and WiMAX for point to point links in a backhaul mesh using 802.11a at 5GHz.

Mesh as the Future of Community Networks

The companies with mesh products here are WiFi Planet included:

Strix Systems

In building mesh networks. Product concept is based on stacked modules. These include: Antenna module, Client Connect wireless module, Network Connect wireless module, Network Server module and Base module.

Tropos Networks

Product family is based on the 5110 Ourdoor WiFi cell. These cells communicate via the Tropos Predictive Wireless Routing Portocol (PWRP) to implement a cellular WiFi mesh. The software management system is called Tropos Control.

BelAir Networks

The product is the BelAir 200. It combines antennas for both backhaul and WiFi access. This modular outdoor package allows for Ethernet connectivity Access support is for 802.11a and b.

MeshNetworks

Software only to implement a mesh architecture.

RFID-Like Tags for WiFi

ekahau has developed a software based positioning engine that can track and locate WiFi devices to 1-2m indoor. This will work on notebook computers and they also have a Wi-Fi TAG. This is a battery powered tracking tag. This tag with the software will create a real time location system. The TAG has a battery life up to 5 years.

Seamless WiFi Roaming Including VoWLAN

Chantry Networks has developed a Layer 3 infrastructure for WiFi that allows for seamless connectivity between access points. This is based on a BeaconMaster controller which lies between the deployed access points and the network. Running on BeaconMaster is VNSWorks which creates wireless subnets that can be segmented by physical and user attributes. Since the user session management takes place at the router, rather than the access point, the user can freely roam from access point to access point without interruption of service.

Has the WiFi Bubble Burst?

The WAVE has gone to all of the 802.11 and WiFi Planet conferences but the first one. This event was tame. But underlying this are market and technology forces which signal more important trends. These include:

The hot spot business is not profitable. It was stated that T-Mobile is losing money on its locations. Cometa networks recently shut down its network. SBC went from a planned 20,000 hot spots to having Wayport do the business. Verizon went from a planned 1,000 hot spots to 430. At Broadband World Forum Seoul Chunghwa Telecom, the incumbent in Taiwan showed that with only 2% of the hot spot locations, airports, had 51% of the users, 36% of the sessions and 26% of the minutes. The incumbent operators have lost interest in implementing hot spots. Without a rapid ROI wireless investment by the major carriers is just like all other investments – non-funded.

The small radius of coverage of WiFi requires that planning and use focus on location, location and location. From a business perspective this is venue, venue and venue. From a commercial perspective the venue owners drive the economics and even use profiles of the wireless business. A recent Wall Street Journal article described how airports are even shaping or limiting how the airlines can use WiFi for baggage handling applications. Such vertical applications will not conflict with venue based revenue streams. Venue owners have a control over the business model of WiFi that would be unthinkable in cellular.

The venue which has driven the growth of the product market has been the home. This venue is controlled by those in the home and value proposition is wireless. Growth has been enabled by standards which allowed for commodization of the underlying silicon which in turn led to a brutal retail market. This has been good for consumers and from the standpoint of rising penetration but few make money.

Vertical applications continue to surface. This includes medical facilities, mobil workers and WLAN within companies. A UPS truck which has WiFi or Bluetooth is a controlled venue. The bounded venue and the application are synonymous. Having such confines allows for the creation of company specific applications.

The economics of the public venue are made more complex by open community networking. New York, San Francisco and Seattle are three examples. The more effective and complete these are the more difficult it becomes for the commercial use model to be viable. The venue here is the city and no one controls access in open spaces.

Communities are beginning to see the value of making wireless pervasive. We saw at Broadband World Forum Seoul that Taipei is seeking to do this but Chunghwa Telecom has not decided to participate because it was not clear they could make money. Cerritos, CA has implemented a city wide network and there are others. This is again an example where communities have decided, based on city management, to implement wireless. It is another venue issue.

Wireless access and management is unreliable and the overall use experience poor. There is no comparison between wired Ethernet networking with wireless. For example, in multiple wireless network environments a user cannot say – automatically select the lowest cost access network which I have permission to use? Wireless set-up has its own horror stories. The proliferation of non-interoperable “standard” equipment supporting “Turbo ++ Super Accelerated” is creating more user problems. One solution cited is 802.11n but this will likely not see the light of day until 2006.

Mesh networks are playing an increasing role, initially in outdoor settings but will be moving to indoor environments and even the home. Mesh can be seen as improving the user experience within a given venue. Zero configuration and extending coverage are two elements in making wireless networks work better. But it is important to note that mesh networking is just one component in the systems engineering context of improving wireless technology.

What then are the underlying market tensions?

There is a substantial expectation in wireless that like the Internet, access should be free or very low cost.

This runs directly against profitable market economics and the control that venue owners hold over the market.

A problem is that there are many places where access is free and this only reinforces the expectation that this should be the case everywhere.

The open source model, which we saw with FastLine Internet, further supports a low priced service model.

Wireless is unreliable and immature.

Small area coverage is a reflection of the immaturity of the technology. The BelAir keynote is an example of a systems approach to solve this. Yet, we are years away from seeing such widely deployed systems. It remains to be seen how venue owners will seek to maintain control, once they have realized the revenue streams that control nets them.

The overall reliability of wireless, including the software experience of access and set up, is poor. This only reinforces the user notion – why pay for this?

The economics of a large scale build out of an infrastructure is doubtful.

It is increasingly evident that working infrastructures which cover large areas will, in turn, require substantial investments. Yet, without the prospect of economic recovery Wall Street will not support the debt and the venture investors do not have the pockets for nor interest in this. The Cometa Network failure is an early warning indicator to avoid market over expectations.

The notion that wireless will be cheaper that wired has yet to be tested in the market. How is this possible when a viable architecture which will work in many environments has not been developed and deployed? We are only now seeing the prospect of scalable wireless wide area systems architectures.

Keep in mind that the holy grail of wireless has been tried before. It included the debacle of MMDS and LMDS.

Deployments will be highly controlled, mostly in vertical applications or where the venue is controlled.

The driver here will be ROI. Wireless has considerable value in many such applications but these are niche markets not mass deployments.

Thus, we came away from WiFI Planet asking ourselves has the bubble burst? That is,

Many of the wireless expectations have a parallel with the early Internet expectations;

The market is much more jaded since the Internet bubble burst; and

Wireless has many more barriers to its success than just laying long haul fiber in the ground to keep up with Internet growth.

As a result we have dark fiber in the ground and today the skies remain largely empty of broadband wireless signals. This is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future.

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0426.3 Software

***ART VPS supports hardware ray tracing

CAMBRIDGE, UK
July 6, 2004

ART VPS Ltd. has released updated RenderPipe software that supports new features in Alias Maya 6 and Autodesk VIZ 2005, while providing continued support for 3ds max 6.

RenderPipe integrates with Maya, VIZ and 3ds max to give users access to hardware-accelerated ray tracing on ART VPS's PURE and RenderDrive systems. The new RenderPipe plug-ins extend support for color and environment nodes in Maya 6 and VIZ 2005. ART VPS has also increased RenderPipe speed by caching data on PURE or RenderDrive systems between frames, saving re-export of unchanged data on consecutive frames.

RenderPipe supports standard materials and RenderMan RP shaders for all versions of Maya, VIZ and 3ds max. It comes with ART VPS's RenderCoat material library, which provides physically based surface materials tuned for PURE and RenderDrive's accelerated ray tracing.

In conjunction with the new RenderPipe release, ART VPS now offers interactive tutorials for 3ds max and Maya; the step-by-step videos help customers get the most out of PURE and RenderDrive ray tracing.

Free downloads of RenderPipe for Maya, VIZ and 3ds max are available at http://www.artvps.com The new RenderPipe software is being shipped with all new products, and is free to current ART VPS software subscribers.

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0426.4 Semiconductor

***GE Global Research Develops World's Best Performing Carbon Nanotube Diode; Nano-Diode is One of the Smallest Devices Ever Made

NISKAYUNA, N.Y.
July 7, 2004

GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of the General Electric Company, announced the development of the world's best performing diode built from a carbon nanotube, which will enable smaller and faster electronic devices with increased functionality. The nano-diode is one of the smallest functioning devices ever made.

The GE Nanotechnology Advanced Technology program reported its discovery in the cover story of the July 5, 2004 edition of "Applied Physics Letters."

Diodes are fundamental semiconductor devices that form the basic building blocks of electronic devices, such as transistors, computer chips, sensors, and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Unlike traditional diodes, GE's carbon nanotube device has the ability for multiple functions -- as a diode and two different types of transistors -- which should enable it to both emit and detect light.

GE's breakthrough device comes very close to the theoretical limits of performance. Measured through the ideal diode equation, developed by Nobel Laureate William Shockley, GE's new diode has an "ideality factor" very close to one, which is the best possible performance for a diode.

One possible application for GE is to use the device to build the next generation of advanced sensors that will have unsurpassed levels of sensitivity. For example, next generation sensors in security applications could detect potential terrorist threats from chemical and biological hazards, even if they are present in extremely small quantities. This would enable enhanced security at airports, office buildings and other public areas.

The carbon nanotube diode was developed by Dr. Ji-Ung Lee, a scientist who works in the Nanotechnology Advanced Technology Program at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, N.Y. More research is underway to enhance the carbon nanotube diode and increase the yield in the manufacturing process, but GE nanotechnology researchers believe this breakthrough could enable a range of important new applications in computing, communications, power electronics, and sensors.

Technical Details

A diode is formed by joining a p-type and an n-type semi-conducting material. Traditionally, these are created by adding impurities or "dopants" to a bulk semiconductor. But unlike traditional semiconductors, there is not a commercially viable method to dope carbon nanotubes. To solve this problem, GE uses an electric field to create the p and n regions. Electric field coupling is accomplished with a split gate electrode fabricated underneath the nanotube. The two coplanar gates couple to the two halves of a carbon nanotube. Essentially, this acts as a Field Effect Transistor where the gate is split into two independently addressable gates. By biasing one gate with a negative voltage and the other with a positive voltage, a p-n junction can be formed. Since the doping is not fixed, the diode can dynamically change polarity from a p-n to an n-p diode and visa versa. In addition, the device also functions as a p-channel transistor (both gates are negatively biased) or an n-channel transistor (both gates are positively biased). Finally, the material properties of carbon nanotubes should enable the device to function as a Light Emitting Diode as well.

The full technical paper about this research is available in the July 5, 2004 issue of "Applied Physics Letters" or online at

http://apl.aip.org

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0426.5 Digital Media

Emerging Digital Formats Show Immense Potential Despite Initial Resistance

PALO ALTO, Calif.
July 7, 2004

Though the MPEG 4 and VC digital formats have immense potential they must be ready to face a slow adoption process. This is primarily because most end users are skeptical about which format to choose while others have invested significant sums in their recent move toward MPEG 2.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.it.frost.com), World Video Encoding Markets, reveals that revenue in this industry totaled $235 million in 2003.

Due to the lack of universally accepted standards, end-users are hesitant to make an immediate transition to new digital formats. The good news is that as the market matures, more vendors are likely to move away from proprietary platforms toward more standards-based or open architectures.

For example, Microsoft has started moving toward a more open architecture such as VC9 to address compatibility issues. Apple's QuickTime platform has also opted for an open source platform based on the MPEG 4 format.

The United States Federal Communications Commission is also trying to champion the cause of digitization by mandating a compulsory switch from analog to digital formats within a stipulated period.

However, broadcasters feel that they would require more time to make the heavy infrastructure investment and are lobbying to push back the deadline for digitization.

The rollout of video on demand (VOD) applications is also expected to have a tremendous impact on the video encoding market. Though VOD applications have been test marketed effectively, some telecommunication companies are still skeptical since VOD is yet to prove itself as a viable business model.

This is likely to have a restraining effect on further deployment of video streaming and encoding solutions until VOD is deemed profitable. Streaming and encoding vendors are largely dependent on VOD providers' success in implementing their business model.

Despite the many obstacles, MPEG 4 and VC9 are lobbying for a place as potential replacements for MPEG 2 in the video encoding market. Their ability to provide bit rate savings and better quality compression is drawing the attention of broadcast, cable, and wireless segments.

Encoding vendors can combat the resistance by reiterating the good return on investment to end-users. They must emphasize the cost savings of moving from a physical archive to a digital one coupled with real-time collaboration capabilities, which helps improve the end user's bottom line.

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0426.6 Environment

***HP Sets Goal to Recycle 1 Billion Pounds of Electronic Waste by 2007; Company aims to double current total amount recycled since 1987

PALO ALTO, Calif.
July 7, 2004

HP announced it is accelerating its product recycling program by setting a goal to recycle 1 billion pounds of electronic products and printing supplies globally by 2007.

In 2003, HP recycled more than 100 million pounds of electronic products and printing supplies through its Planet Partners return and recycling program, raising the company-wide total to 500 million pounds recycled since HP began recycling in 1987. This goal is specific to recycling, and does not include the millions of products that HP and its partners refurbish, re-use, donate or resell.

Addressing electronic waste is one of HP's three global citizenship priorities. As part of this effort, HP opened its first recycling facility in Roseville, Calif. in 1997, becoming the only major computer manufacturer to operate its own end-to-end recycling facility. A second HP recycling facility has since been opened in LaVergne, Tenn. HP's other two global citizenship priorities are focused on raising social and environmental standards in the supply chain and increasing access to information technology.

HP intends to reach this global recycling goal by expanding the program to more customers and creating new, convenient ways for consumers to return and recycle used or unwanted electronic equipment in a convenient and environmentally responsible manner. Since HP Planet Partners was officially launched in 1991, the company has implemented a number of initiatives designed to increase customer awareness of the importance of recycling unwanted computer products, including:

-- e-coupons: e-coupons offer online recycling customers savings on new products from HPshopping.com.

-- In-box labels and envelopes: Postage-paid labels and envelopes are included in many replacement HP LaserJet and inkjet print cartridge boxes in the United States and Europe.

-- Standards: HP has global recycling standards for management of end-of-life computer hardware products that address labor and safety at supplier operations.

-- Public policy: HP has worked closely with national, state and provincial governments to develop "shared responsibility" recycling legislation where producers are responsible for the recycling of their products.

The HP Planet Partners program operates globally in more than 30 countries and seeks to reduce the environmental footprint of IT products, minimize waste going to landfills and provide customers with a convenient and environmentally sound end-of-life solution.

More information on HP Planet Partners is available at

http://www.hp.com/recycle

HP's 2004 Global Citizenship Report is available at

http://www.hp.com/go/report

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0426.7 Home Appliances

***Enabled Products Slowly but Surely Making the Home 'Smarter' Reports In-Stat/MDR

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.
July 7, 2004

As the prices and complexity of home networking products have decreased and as consumers have begun to demand more enabled products to plug into their networks, the Internet-enabled smart home is getting closer to a reality, according to In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com). However, the high-tech market research firm reports that the evolution of the smart home has not been happening as fast as most companies involved had predicted and that several factors will be crucial to the advancement of the enabled home and its associated products.

Analysts at In=Stat/MDR believe that some of the major factors that will help drive this market include consumer education and household infrastructure, such as broadband, home networking penetration, and a growth in new home (Master Planned Community (MPC) or Multi-Dwelling Unit (MDU)) construction. In-Stat/MDR finds that from a home networking perspective, interest in smart home networking, using a combination of technologies, has already increased. And, a projected increase from 35 million home networks worldwide by 2004 to nearly 98 million by 2008 bodes well for the adoption of smart products for the connected home.

However, they point to three major considerations relating to the development of enabled products for the smart home. Many of the products in this market are facing the problem of category creation, products need to be introduced that do not exploit technology for technology's sake, but instead offer real solutions that people do need explained to them, and these products also need to be affordable and simple to install, or they will never take off.

In-Stat/MDR has also found that:

-- Products that can be found in today's smart home market include: enabled kitchen and counter appliances, like refrigerators, microwaves, and bread makers; security products, like cameras and sensors; and consumer electronics products, such as DVD players, TVs, and set top boxes. While only a few products in each of these segments exist today, as the enabled smart home reaches more households, manufacturers are prepared to meet consumer demand.

-- Asia, with its 45.4 million DSL subscribers, represents an attractive target market for smart home networks and products.

-- In the home control and monitoring segment, some companies are already offering services that enable many types of products around the home. These services generally require professional installation and a monthly fee, but offer homeowners peace of mind, convenience, energy savings and reductions on insurance. Other, less complex solutions, which the homeowner can install himself, are also available. The number of companies offering these services, and the types of control offered will increase as interest in enabled smart homes continues to grow.

-- Enabled products, such as those that can be found in the kitchen and living room, are beginning to appear in larger numbers. These products are being offered by large manufacturers, as well as by smaller companies, but concerns about standards, functionality and pricing still concern manufacturers that do not want to risk brand erosion on unsuccessful products.

The report, "Internet Based Home Control and Enabled Products: Today's Smart Home" (#IN0401161ID), covers the Internet-enabled smart home with regard to smart home networks and products. While home networking and automation can be done without accessing the Internet, this report only focuses on those solutions and products that can be plugged into the Internet-enabled home network. Drivers such as consumer education, the state of household infrastructure and the type of community in which consumers live that affect the enabled smart home market are discussed in the first section of the report. In addition, the number of U.S. households online, U.S. and worldwide broadband and home network penetration, and master planned communities are forecasted and analyzed. Technologies, market drivers and trends for products in the smart home are discussed in the second half of the report. In-Stat/MDR divides the product segments for the smart home into two categories: home control and monitoring, and networked consumer electronics. The home control and monitoring category is further divided into three segments, devices used for control of the home such as lighting and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning), home security products like network cameras, and home appliances, such as those found in the kitchen or laundry room. Networked or IP enabled Consumer Electronics (CE) are expanding to include most consumer electronics products.

http://www.instat.com/catalog/Ccatalogue.asp?id=27

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0426.8 Wireless

***High-Speed Wireless Internet Service is Now Available in More Than 3,100 Starbucks Coffeehouses Nationwide as T-Mobile HotSpot Locations Are Added to Stores in Five States

SEATTLE
July 6, 2004

Finding a fast, convenient and reliable Wi-Fi Internet connection is now much easier for Starbucks customers in Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico and Wisconsin. Starbucks Coffee Company, T-Mobile USA, Inc. and HP have expanded their role in offering consumers the ability to stay connected on-the-go. The T-Mobile HotSpot wireless broadband Internet service has been added to more than 110 Starbucks stores in these five states.

With more than 3,100 Starbucks coffeehouses now offering Internet access nationwide, the Company continues to build on the success of T-Mobile HotSpot in its stores. Starbucks has extended the reach of the T-Mobile HotSpot service to new markets, and is providing customers with exclusive digital entertainment content found only by connecting at Starbucks.

The T-Mobile HotSpot service at Starbucks is proving to be very successful. With millions of customer accesses since the August 2002 launch, customers are finding that Starbucks is a great place to stay connected to e-mail or the Web while they're away from home or the office. Internal research indicates that T-Mobile HotSpot subscribers visit Starbucks more often -- an average of eight times per month -- and spend more time in the stores -- the average connection lasts approximately one hour. Nearly 90 percent of T-Mobile HotSpot accesses are during off-peak store hours, which are after 9 a.m.

Starbucks continues to add value to the HotSpot experience in its stores by offering users access to exclusive entertainment content found only on the T-Mobile HotSpot service at Starbucks. As Starbucks preferred technology partner, HP powers the multimedia content and is collaborating with the Company to create new and meaningful ways for customers to enjoy digital content -- driving change and innovation in entertainment distribution and consumption.

Throughout the month of July, T-Mobile HotSpot users at Starbucks can access interactive multimedia content from Roadtrip Nation, and follow the journey of nine college students as they trek across the United States to capture stories of leaders in society who have defined their own roads in life. HotSpot users at Starbucks can watch interviews with leaders from past roadtrips, track the progress of the summer 2004 Student Roadtrips and learn more about Roadtrip Nation. More information on Roadtrip Nation can be found at http://www.roadtripnation.com, or by connecting at Starbucks.

To use the T-Mobile HotSpot service at Starbucks, customers with a Wi-Fi-enabled notebook computer, Tablet PC or Pocket PC simply need to launch their Internet browser from within a participating Starbucks and log in. New customers need to activate a T-Mobile HotSpot account which is available by launching their browser in a participating Starbucks location.

The T-Mobile HotSpot service is backed by high-speed T-1 connections that are reliable and fast enough to accommodate most applications, ranging from checking e-mail to viewing rich multimedia and video content. T-Mobile HotSpot window signs are visible near the entrance of all participating Starbucks locations. A complete list of stores can be found by visiting

http://www.starbucks.com/hotspot

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