Gateway DVD Player Cuts the Cord

Gateway upgraded its wireless DVD player this week, taking another step in its attempt to converge the consumer electronics and PC markets.

The ADC-320 Wireless Connected DVD player supports more multimedia formats and better networking technology, says John Schindler, manager of connectivity and home entertainment with Poway, California-based Gateway.

Wi-Fi Connection

Using 802.11g technology, the ADC-320 Wireless Connected DVD player wirelessly receives and displays streamed digital content--photos, music, and video--stored on a PC at a speed of up to 54 megabits per second, Schindler says. Under ideal conditions, the DVD player can pull content from a PC up to 300 feet away, he says.

"Customers today have most of their digital content stored on a PC that they want to get into a living room. That's why we launched the Wireless Connected DVD player," he says.

The ADC-320 can transfer files five times faster than the ADC-220, which was launched last July and had integrated 802.11b Wi-Fi technology. The increase in speed allows the player to stream higher-bandwidth movies, he says.

The DVD player can receive digital content from Windows and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 PCs, the company says in a statement. It also allows content to be streamed to PCs, where it can be recorded via Media Center's Personal Video Recorder feature. The recorded content can subsequently be streamed to other ADC-320s on a home network, Schindler says.

One-Step Set Up

Compared to the three-step setup process of the ADC-220, the ADC-320 has a one-step set-up process, he says. After the device is plugged in, it links to a home's existing wireless network using DHCP. It can use peer-to-peer networking to connect to home PCs with wireless access points, he said. If a home network has WEP or MAC (Media Access Control) addressing security features turned on, the DVD player can be configured to connect to such networks, he says.

The player allows streaming of MP3 and Windows Media Audio content, and MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4, Microsoft PVR, and AVI (Audio-Video Interleaved) video files. For secure transfer of multimedia content, the DVD player supports 64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption and WPA encryption.

The $199 ADC-320 Wireless Connected DVD player is available immediately. Firmware upgrades for the DVD player will be available from Gateway's Web site, the company says. Owners of Gateway's ADC-220 can upgrade with an 802.11g DVD card that costs $50 and is installed on the back of the DVD player.

The ADC-320 plugs into Gateway's KAS-303 home theater system, including a digital receiver, five speakers, and a subwoofer, to create a digital media center that can play media streamed from a PC. The total package costs $999.