Intel Corp. and Sony Corp. proposed formation of the group, and so far 15 companies have joined: Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, IBM, Kenwood, Lenovo, Microsoft, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, ST Microelectronics and Thomson.

The non-profit organization will seek an industry consensus on design guidelines for consumer electronics products so that consumers can access digital content across different platforms.

For example, consumers could download a MP3 music file in MP3 to a mobile phone, play the file on a home stereo and store it in a PC without worrying about troublesome format conversions.

Thus far, no such interoperability exists. DHWG was established to prepare guidelines for cross-platform interoperability, a Sony spokeswoman said.

The group will first set a simple guideline based on established standards such as Internet Protocol (IP), UpnP, Wi-Fi and other common formats such as MPEG2 and MP3. In several years, the guidelines will evolve to incorporate emerging or subsequent versions of existing standards to cover wider areas such as home controls and communications.

The first step is a Digital Home guideline which will be hashed out in 2004 and 2005. It will be based on existing industry standards and accessible platforms. As the first mandatory specifications, DHWG-compliant equipment will be required to support JPEG and PNG for imaging, LPCM for audio and MPEG2 for video.

DHWG plans to define guidelines on a schedule so that the first compliant products would hit the market within the next 12 months.

DHWG will prepare logos to indicate that products are compliant with DHWG guidelines. The group will also provide compliance certification, marketing and promotion.

By: DocMemory
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