Netgear Unveils True Dual-Band Range Extender With Support For Apple’s AirPlay

Netgear announced at CES 2013 its first wall-plug dual-band Wi-Fi range extender, the Universal Dual Band WiFi Range Extender Wall-plug Edition (model WN3500RP).

You plug it into a wall socket within the range of an existing Wi-Fi network to help extend its range. It’s also the first Wi-Fi range extender that can be directly connected to speakers for music streaming using AirPlay, via its standard 3.5mm audio jack, or the USB speakers via its USB port.

 

The new Universal Dual Band WiFi Range Extender can simultaneously extend both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands, making it best suited for a dual-band home network. It works, however, with a Wi-Fi network that uses either of the two frequency bands.

The WN3500RP comes in a compact design, just slightly bigger than a power adapter of a mobile device. It comes included with a dock and with a separate power cord in case you don’t want it to crowd the power sockets. The device’s USB port can also be used to host a printer and share it with the rest of the network.

The new Universal Dual Band WiFi Range Extender, Wall-plug Edition (WN3500RP) is available now and costs $100.

STREAMING SERVICES BEGIN TO BEAT CABLE SUBSCRIPTIONS IN ‘THE BATTLE FOR THE COUCH POTATO’

Due to improved and increasing streaming services provided by companies Hulu, Netflix and others, millions of Americans are “cutting the cord,” if you will, from cable companies.

A recent report from Convergence Consulting Group found between 2008 and 2011, more than 2.86 million people canceled cable subscriptions in favor of online streaming. The report – The Battle for the North American (US/Canada) Couch Potato: Online and Traditional TV, and Movie Distribution — in its sixth year now, shows that compared the previous year, 2011 saw 50 percent fewer customers signed on for cable services.

Not only that, but the report states broadcast and cable networks are making the online full-episode TV they do offer “less free” by increasing ad time, and/or reducing available shows for free.

Although the report forecasts “cord cutters” will reach about 3.58 million before the end of 2012, it does project that cable subscriptions will be up next year to 185,000 new subscribers (112,000 subscribers were reported for 2011 and 272,000 in 2010).

Yahoo! News reports Convergence co-founder Brahm Eiley speculating that increased prices for streaming services will be a factor in this small rebound for cable and broadcast companies. The issue is that sites such as Netflix need to keep up with the cost of streaming rights in order to provide content to their users. Yahoo! reports Netflix owing $1.1 billion for streaming rights in 2010, whereas the number jumped dramatically to $3.9 billion in 2011.

Intel Buys RealNetworks Patents

Intel has purchased 190 patents and 170 patent applications from RealNetworks for $120 million.

The patents include technology invented to create next-generation video codecs, which encode or decode video so that it can be sent over networks efficiently. It’s one more example of a giant company “armoring up” to deal with potential patent wars in the future.

As part of the deal, Intel will acquire RealNetworks’ foundational streaming media patents, expanding Intel’s diverse portfolio of intellectual property.

Intel said the deal enhances its ability to “continue to offer richer experiences and innovative solutions to end users across a wide spectrum of devices, including through Ultrabook devices, smartphones and digital media.”

“Selling these patents to Intel unlocks some of the substantial and unrealized value of RealNetworks assets,” CEO  Thomas Nielsen said in a statement. “It represents an extraordinary opportunity for us to generate additional capital to boost investments in new businesses and markets while still protecting our existing business.”

The two companies also agreed to collaborate on future support and development of the video codec software and related products.

RealNetworks will retain certain rights to continue using the patents in current and future products.