Tuesday, September 24 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM Session B: Networking the Digital Home and the Residential Gateway - The TV Hub, Computer Hub, Telecommunications Hub, Part I This session will address the key concepts in establishing the home as a media center by focusing on three primary technologies as the core home-media hubs: the telecommunications, the computer and the set-top box. These are the concepts behind the idea of "technology convergence." While each technology will not move forward along a completely distinct road or even make irrelevant the other, there are fundamentally different mind-sets and market strategies at work in each which we will explore. Which will be the most practical approach to creating the home network? Will it be wireless or will all new homes be built with crawl spaces for wiring behind walls or in the ceiling? These are the "crude" questions for our industry experts who are in the forefront of developing never-endingly "elegant" solutions. Wayne Caswell , HomeRF Communications Chairman, SIEMENS Cordless Products Tom Flanagan, Director, Broadband Strategy, Broadband Communications Group, Texas Instruments Peter Kempf, Vice President, Business Development, Conexant Tom Reed, President, HomePlug Powerline Alliance Keith Laepple, Director, Technical Evangelism, Microsoft Windows eHome Pallavi Shah, Market Development Manager, Streaming and Video Infrastructure, Sun Microsystems, Moderator Keith Laepple, Director, Technical Evangelism, Windows eHome Division, Microsoft Corporation: Keith Laepple leads a team responsible for technical industry relationships with the Windows eHome Division, a new product group extending the Microsoft® Windows® platform for distributed entertainment, communications and control in the home. Laepple is an experienced spokesman in the field of consumer PCs, devices and home networking. An originator of the Universal Plug and Play initiative, Laepple loves to discuss Microsoft’s consumer vision and commitment to technologies that enrich and simplify home experiences. He brings more than a decade of Microsoft experience to his PC and consumer electronics industry relationships. Before joining the Windows eHome Division, Laepple was a technical evangelist for Windows Platforms, responsible for PC design guidelines and consumer hardware initiatives. Before that, he was a program manager in the Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 operating system development teams, with responsibilities including graphics, communications and power management. Laepple holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Virginia Tech. He is an experienced speaker at industry events, with recent presentations at the January 2002 CES Digital Hollywood conference, Windows Hardware Engineering Conference, and Embedded Microprocessor Forum. Laepple’s areas of expertise include the following: Consumer PC and device strategies; Home networking technologies; Audio/video device interoperability; Universal Plug and Play; Microsoft .NET Platform; Residential service platforms Pallavi Shah, Market Segment Manager, Digital Video Infrastructure, Sun, Microsystems: Pallavi Shah is responsible for recruiting and managing strategic partners for Sun in the streaming and rich media infrastructure market. Since joining Sun in 1995, she has been involved in bringing key components of Sun's advanced digital media technology to market. She chaired ISO's MPEG4-Java standards group and formed multi-company alliances to promote Java and protect Sun's strategic interests. Prior to Sun, Ms Shah was with the Sarnoff Corporation (RCA research lab). She represented the HDTV Grand Alliance during the development of HDTV and pioneered the world's first E-Commerce application of interactive HDTV at NAB-95. She has served as a panelist/speaker at several industry conferences, published papers and has several pending patents. She hold M.S. from Utah State University. Tom Flanagan is Director, Broadband Strategy for Texas Instruments' Broadband Communications Group. TI's broadband communications business includes cable modems, digital subscriber line (xDSL) modems, integrated access devices (IADs), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateways, carrier infrastructure, and home and office wireless networking. Prior to this, Mr. Flanagan was Director, Business Development for Telogy Networks and Vice President Sales and Marketing for ADC Skyline. Mr. Flanagan also held various marketing, sales and business development positions during a 12 year career with Dynatech Communications. He holds a B.S. degree from James Madison University. Wayne Caswell , Communications Chairman, HomeRF Working Group, HomeRF Marketing Manager, Siemens Information & Communications Mobile LLC: After 30 years at IBM and running a home systems consulting practice, Wayne joined Siemens ICM to help develop home networking strategies and apply cordless telephone technology to HomeRF(TM), thus enabling the integration of data and voice applications. Wayne is a home networking visionary, frequent speaker, and author with a monthly column in HomeToys.com. He serves as the Communications Chairman for the HomeRF Working Group and can be reached at wayne.caswell@icm.siemens.com. Peter Kempf, Vice President, Business Development, Conexant: Peter Kempf was appointed vice president, business development in May 2000. Kempf is responsible for mergers and acquisitions, partner development, program management, technology planning and market analysis within the broadband communications segment of Conexant Systems, Inc. Prior to joining Conexant, Kempf was a top management consultant at McKinsey & Company in London and Los Angeles. Before that, he worked for the mergers and acquisitions group at Morgan Stanley in New York. Kempf also has software development experience in the aerospace industry. Kempf received a masters of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and a masters of business administration degree from the University of California Los Angeles. He also earned a bachelor of science degree in electronic engineering from the University of Minnesota. Tom Reed is the 2001 president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, a nonprofit corporation, comprised of more than 70 companies, established to provide a forum for the creation of specifications for home powerline networking products and services; and to accelerate the demand for these products and services through the sponsorship of market and user education programs. As president of HomePlug, Reed is focused on supporting member company initiatives, creating consumer demand and education for these new products, and solving regulatory issues for product sales in Europe and Japan. With experience in emerging technologies, as well as consumer marketing, Reed is poised to extend HomePlug from industry insider awareness into the mass-market consumer products mindset. Reed is striving to significantly expand HomePlug during his tenure as president. Reed's goals include growing the Alliance membership, rolling-out new HomePlug-compliant products, driving product demand, and expanding HomePlug's presence in key international markets. Reed has established the benchmark that within the next five years HomePlug's product portfolio will double analyst projections for the percentage of market share for connected home products. Reed has been an integral part of HomePlug since the Alliance's inception and served as the Alliance's Marketing Working Group chairman, as well as a board alternate. Reed succeeds Alberto Mantovani, director of small business and consumer networking within Conexant Systems Inc.'s Personal Computing Division, who served as the first president of HomePlug. A forward-thinker and trend-tracker in the industry, Reed has presented at a myriad of industry conferences and events, including Broadband Home Conference, Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and COMDEX.