Good strategy or solid “strategery?” Hewlett Packard is making a
run on the living room with its new Entertainment Center, a
Linux-based home entertainment component that provides USB, a CDRW,
multiple ‘net connections and a 40GB hard drive. The device will
put the company firmly in the thick of a market already attracting
attention from some home entertainment giants.
“HP’s Entertainment Center, which will be due out this
fall in time for the 2001 holiday shopping season, is a standalone
device that operates on an Intel 566 Celeron processor with the
Linux-based OS. Designed to resemble a component in a regular
stereo rack, it comes equipped with a 40GB hard-drive, CD-RW, 3 USB
ports as well as the standard S-video connection and RCA video
jacks. For the home networking enthusiasts, the device connects to
the Internet (or personal area networks) by way of a V90 dial-up
modem, Ethernet port or HPNA (phone line) connection. The device is
expected to sell for under $1,000. “