It took 'em long enough, but Netgear has at long last decided to ship the two powerline adapters it announced way back at CES in January. The Powerline AV Ethernet Adapter Kit (XAVB101; pictured above), which is based on the HomePlug AV standard, and the UPA-based HDXB111 Powerline HD Plus Ethernet Adapter Kit (which is obviously capable of transmitting HD footage) can both be snapped up in time for the holidays. Each set is designed for plug 'n play action and for those who'd rather network their wares via installed cabling instead of running something new. Of course, performance is always the questionable aspect of these type devices, but those with faith (and a North American address) can finally lay down their $149.99 / $169.99 and get busy. The full release and a shot of the HDXB111 can be found after the break.

HomePlug AV has been around for what seems like eons, but regardless of how hard it tries, it never seems to really take hold in the market place. That being said, two big names in the industry are teaming up to give it yet another push, as STMicroelectronics and Arkados join hands to "develop and manufacture a 200Mbit-per-second HomePlug AV wideband powerline modem System-on-Chip (SoC)." If all goes to plan, it'll become the world's first HomePlug AV SoC, and it's being designed to "power applications ranging from simple Ethernet-to-powerline bridges to full-featured products as wide ranging as HDTV distribution, digital set-top boxes, IPTV, whole-house audio, networked digital picture frames, surveillance systems, etc." We'll see if anyone notices when it ships in mid-2009.

If you're tired of waiting to beam your HD signals across the room over thin air but still crave that tidy install devoid of snaking wires, you might want to give HDMI over powerline a try. For $400, Audiovox will hook you up with its HDP100 HD Powerlink system (apparently under the Acoustic Research brand) -- a single transmitter, receiver and accessories that will transmit HDMI and IR remote signals over the Romex already in your walls. Of course, as with all things with names ending in "over powerline," performance can vary based on things like your home's wiring, what other devices are placed on the circuit, how the HDP100 units are plugged in and maybe even the phase of the moon; but that same $400 will disappear pretty quickly if you have a pro pull some wires through the walls.

Coaxial cabling has long since been viewed as a premiere option for passing along high-def content within the home. After all, in most places it's already neatly installed within the walls. The High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) has announced its intentions to release a HANA Entertainment Box reference design based on the new (UWB-based) 1394 Over Coax standard; products based on said design will enable consumers to "download HD content from any broadband connection or HD cable set-top-box and watch it in any room in their home with a coax jack and a remote control." HANA is hoping to have the reference design and initial prototypes out the door in Q4, though we wouldn't hold our breath.

Faults notwithstanding, powerline is still mighty scrumptious in theory. Evidently NuVo Technologies agrees, as it's cranking out what's possibly the planet's first whole-home audio system that relies on existing A/C wiring. The Renovia can deliver audio and metadata throughout the house by simply tapping into the power wires already within your walls, and in case you couldn't guess, it's using the HomePlug 1.0 specification in order to do so. The central hub has AM, FM and Sirius-ready tuners already on board, and owners can plug in a pair of iPod docks along with two analog sources to boot. In case that's still not enough to get your drool a-flowin', it'll also stream "virtually any digital content on the network via NuVo's Music Port module." There's no word just yet on an MSRP, but judging by NuVo's past, we'd assume that it'll be somewhere between grossly and obscenely overpriced.

We really can't comment on the curious timing here, but just after CopperGate picked up the HomePlug AV Powerline business from Conexant Systems, along comes word that the HomePlug AV II specification is just over the horizon. Reportedly, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance is planning to release its next-gen home networking specification "later this year, with first silicon sampling in 2009." We're told that the new spec would simply "build on the existing HomePlug AV specification, developed in 2005, which offers a theoretical bandwidth up to just under 200 Mbits/s." Regrettably, no one could pry a new target speed from the mouths of execs just yet, but you can rest assured it will be at least somewhat speedier (duh).

Let's face it -- HomePlug AV has had a pretty rough go of it, and while we wouldn't consider the technology dead just yet, we can't imagine it ever rising to prominence at this point. Our negativity isn't stopping one CopperGate Communications from following its heart, however, as it just announced this week that it would be taking the business off of Conexant Systems' hands. The pickup makes CopperGate the "the first semiconductor company with home networking technologies supporting all three wire types (coax, phone and power lines)." The deal gives the new owner "all relevant power line technology and silicon products, related patents, appropriate licenses, and requisite personnel," which sounds to us like everything including the kitchen sink. Of course, there's no way of knowing what kind of impact the acquisition will have, but CopperGate's hoping that it will "better prepare the company for the new ITU home networking standard, G.hn." Check out the read link for more details.

After waxing rhapsodic in our last podcast about how dodgy the issue of wireless HDMI / wireless HD really is, we're beginning to wonder if passing along 1080i / 1080p content on existing power lines is an acceptable (or flat out better) alternative. Granted, PowerLine applications haven't had the best of luck over the years functioning as advertised, but given that PowerLine-enabled HD media streamers are already seeing reality, we're hoping the technology can advance beyond its flawed past. Another example of said technology moving forward is the debut of several PLC (Power Line Communication) adapters from Sharp, which can be used to connect an AQUOS Net HDTV (among other devices) to the internet via electrical wiring. Truth be told, we're crossing our fingers that this stuff can really take off -- after all, you'll still be stuck figuring out a way to run a single wire to an AC outlet regardless of everything else. Of course, only time will tell if DRM-laced, uncompressed HD content will flow unimpeded through a home's electrical infrastructure, but this corner is definitely rooting for it.

[Image courtesy of X10]

HomePlug's had a rocky past, but ZyXEL's looking to take the technology to new heights with the DMA1100P HomePlug AV digital media adapter. Dubbed a "simple solution" to enable consumers to share content on an HDTV via power lines, the "world's first" DMA with integrated HomePlug AV Powerline technology includes support for 1080i streaming and HDMI output. Purportedly, users can toss content around on their home power lines at around 200Mbps and it also "automatically discovers all media files from DLNA supported devices and makes them available for browsing and playback." Granted, we'd be a wee bit gun-shy about pulling the trigger on this one, but the brave souls out there who believe that this stuff will deliver can grab it next month for $269.99.

Vidanti is hoping to shake things up in the HD IPTV game by offering up a product line devoted to networking your HD streaming home devices without laying down for fancy new cabling and a weekend's worth of installation charges. The company has chosen to base its forthcoming lineup on Intellon's INT6000 HomePlug AV, which utilizes the power lines already ran throughout your home to distribute HD audio / video. Intellon claims that its technology beneath the hood will allow Vidanti's product line to realize 200Mbps, but we all know that transferring bits and bytes through the power lines hasn't exactly lived up to expectations. Nevertheless, Vidanti is now hoping to "offer service providers an HD IP set-top box (pictured) whose power and connectivity to the broadband gateway are both supplied through a standard power cord," and if all goes as planned, it should be listed under its future BBTV4000 lineup of goods.

We weren't so impressed with Netgear's 85Mbps powerline solution (pictured), so we'll give them another shot with their 200Mbps attempt. Netgear nabbed DS2's chip for their up and coming 200Mbps Powerline HD solution. The theory is that any electrical outlet in your home can be used as a blazing fast Ethernet port with the equipment and 200Mbps is more than enough for multiple high-def streams. No product until the second quarter of 06, which is fine with us; we're still smarting over our failed attempts to stream HD, or SD for that matter, with the last product iteration. For now, we'll keep streaming our HD over 802.11a.