Wireless IP standard for home multimedia

Agence France Presse reports that a hundred Japanese and foreign firms have agreed to collaborate in creating a common standard for Internet-enabled home appliances like TV sets and DVD players. The goals are to support both remote control from a single handset and intercommunication of multimedia content, using a wi-fi based protocol, and to bring products to market based on the standard by 2005. According to AFP, "Corporate participants include Japanese electronics giants Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Sharp Corp., NEC Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. as well as foreign-affiliated firms like Microsoft Co. and IBM Japan Ltd... The project will be led by the Communications Research Laboratory under [Japan's] Telecommunications Ministry... The ministry will allocate frequencies for Internet-enabled appliances based on the trial results..."