January 2006

Technology Update HomePlug AV 1.0 is now available to HomePlug Alliance members. Click here for more! Here is what the industry is saying about HomePlug Technology! "Innovation in powerline technologies may or may not add to power utilities' revenues immediately, but the cost savings they enable will certainly help their bottom lines." Source: ABI Research's recent study, "The Future of HomePlug/In-house PLC and Access BPL" Technical Papers Have you seen the new HomePlug AV Whitepaper? Click here. Upcoming Events CEBIT 2006 March 9-16, 2006 Hannover, Germany Many HomePlug Alliance members from Europe and all around the globe will exhibit in the World of Powerline and other places at the world’s largest trade show. Look Who’s Talking… About the HomePlug Technology Conference! “This was a fantastic conference! There was so much enthusiasm and there were so many people that are passionate about the HomePlug technology.” Don MacDonald Vice President and General Manager, Digital Home Group Intel Corp “To me, one of the most interesting technologies is actually the HomePlug technology itself. It could be one of the primary ways that consumers will network entertainment devices in their homes.” Marc Beckwitt Business Development Director, Television Marketing Group Sony Corporation “With powerline communications, ease of use is extremely important. The easier that the HomePlug technology is to use, the more likely that it will become a widespread networking phenomenon. HomePlug AV is a common vision of where HomePlug can go.” Jeremy Toeman Vice President of Product Marketing, Sling Media Inc. "We were one of the first companies to found the Alliance, and we're proud and excited to see how the industry is evolving." Oleg Logvinov President & CEO Arkados, Inc. Please visit www.HomePlug.org for more information about the HomePlug Alliance.

President’s Letter Matthew Theall, Intel Corporation As we begin 2006, the HomePlug Alliance can look back on a year of significant progress. This is underscored by the availability of version 1.0 of the HomePlug AV specification, creation of new Promoter’s Groups for each HomePlug specification, new members joining the Alliance and the significant presence we have achieved in the market. We recently saw the results of the hard work of a dedicated group of engineers with the ratification of the HomePlug AV specification. Congratulations and thank you to everyone that spent long nights over a long period of time to realize their vision of a high bit-rate powerline technology. Silicon providers are now completing their plans to roll out the first wave of HomePlug AV chips, and product suppliers are eagerly awaiting those chips for new designs that will enable products never possible before. The newly formed HomePlug 1.0, HomePlug AV, HomePlug BPL and HomePlug C&C Promoter Groups are driving these technologies into the market. The HomePlug 1.0 promoter group continues to drive 1.0 as the industry standard for Powerline technology. The HomePlug AV Promoter Group was responsible for getting the HomePlug AV specification ratified and driving it in to new product plans. The BPL work group is actively working on a new specification that will extend HomePlug capabilities for use in Access applications and finally, the Command and Control work group is working with industry leaders to define and select the next generation open standard for C&C. It’s truly an exciting time to be a member of the HomePlug Alliance! The 2005 HomePlug World Tour is now coming to a close. The tour started at the Intel Developer Forum in August and included keynotes, classes, press events and demonstrations in San Francisco, Taipei and Shanghai. We also visited the Net-atHome Conference in Nice, France where we met with Europe’s key decision makers; held a very successful HomePlug Powerline Technology Conference in San Francisco attended by more than 200 designers and developers; and hosted a one-day HomePlug Executive Seminar in Tokyo that drew nearly 150 Japanese developers and executives. Along the way, we also visited market leaders and press to present the HomePlug vision in Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; Shenzhen, China; Taipei, Taiwan; Shanghai, China; Beijing, China; Cannes, France as well as many cities across America. The tour focused on meeting with system architects, hardware/software engineers, government officials and industry leaders in the networking, consumer electronics and other key market segments. As a result of our technical capability and market presence, many new companies have joined the Alliance. New board members include GE Security, Linksys-Cisco, Intel, Motorola and Samsung. We are continuing to see membership growth in all geographies, including Europe, Asia and the Americas… and we expect more new members in 2006. We are laying the groundwork for a successful new year. We anticipate a record number of shipments of HomePlug 1.0 products and the first new HomePlug AV products. The HomePlug BPL technical work group has plans to complete the BPL specification this year. The C&C technical evaluation group is working to bring a unified Command and Control standard to the market. The Marketing Work Group kicked off its 2006 plan with a HomePlug presence at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January - with record attendance and many people interested in learning more about HomePlug. The Japan Work Group and Strategy Work Groups are actively working on driving HomePlug into the industry as the industry’s leading powerline standard. In closing, I’d like to again thank everyone for their hard work and success in 2005. The Board of Directors and I wish each and every one of you a Happy New Year and I look forward to working with you in 2006. SAMSUNG Joins the HomePlug Board of Directors Samsung Joins Leadership of HomePlug Powerline Alliance; Alliance Adds More Depth to Consumer Electronics Expertise San Ramon, Calif. – January 5, 2005 – Driving the worldwide acceptance of high-speed networking over power lines, the HomePlug® Powerline Alliance today announced that Samsung has joined its Implementers' Forum Board of Directors. Samsung is expected to significantly contribute to HomePlug’s efforts to simplify the “consumer experience” as it relates to networking, multi-media and rich content distribution within the evolving digital home. For more, click here. HomePlug Alliance at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show The HomePlug Alliance showcased HomePlug AV and 1.0-compliant products from HomePlug-member companies at CES in Las Vegas from January 5 - 8, 2006. The HomePlug digital living room included security camera, HDTV video, audio, networked PC and gaming demonstrations by member companies such as Arkados, Inc., GigaFast, Inc., Intellon Corporation, ST&T, and NComputing Co., Ltd. These demonstrations combined with news from various member companies, including Samsung and SPiDCOM Technologies, drew numerous journalists, industry analysts and potential members to the booth. More than 25 HomePlug Powerline Alliance member companies attended CES this year, including Analog Devices, Arkados, Asoka USA Corp., ASUSTek Computers, Aztech Systems, Broadcom Corp., Cisco-Linksys, Delta Electronics, Gigafast Inc., Intel Corp., Intellon Corp., IOGear, Inc., Motorola, NComputing, NETGEAR, PMC-Sierra, Ltd., RadioShack, Samsung, Sanyo Electric Co., Sharp Laboratories of America, Sony Electronics, SPiDCOM Technologies, ST&T Corp., STMicroelectronics, Ubicod Co. Ltd, and ZyXEL Communications, Inc.