NEC Launches New 'Lui'-Branded Personal Solutions on Japanese Market Toward PC-based Digital Lifestyles

JCN Newswires, Dec 4, 2007

Tokyo, Japan, Dec 4, 2007 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation and NEC Personal Products Ltd. announced the launch of new personal solutions under a new brand "Lui," toward PC-based digital lifestyles.

Coined from "Life with Ubiquitous Integrated Solutions," the new brand Lui will anticipate new ways to use PCs and digital devices in advanced network environments, and will support new business for digital lifestyles in an era of ubiquitous technologies.

Based on the new brand concept, NEC has launched a new generation of home server/client solutions that enable centralized management of digital contents in the home (e.g., video, music, and photos) on a home server PC, which will allow the user to enjoy contents on a PC or other terminal in any room in the house. The home server PC can also be operated remotely from a compact, light weight, special terminal via the Internet or a home network.

NEC plans to release the first products realizing these solutions in the first half of 2008 in Japan. These products will include the home server PC, the core of the home network, and two compact, light weight special client terminals: a PC Remoter Notebook type and a PC Remoter Pocket type.

Recently, high-speed network environments are becoming more commonplace, digital broadcasts and contents are becoming more readily available, and an even broader range of new and diverse services are being offered. Within this environment, there is a growing demand for technologies that will allow contents and services to be used both inside and outside the home.

Lui home server/client solutions respond to these demands using two approaches: (1) Contents on Demand, in which music, video, and other contents are centrally managed and shared within the home, and (2) PC on Demand, in which the functions of the user's Home Server PC can be accessed remotely from another room in the house or even from an outside location.

1. Outline of Home Server/Client Solutions

(1) Contents on Demand

The Home Server PC features NEC's original Multi Record Cast Technology, which improves recording and broadcast processing performance with a combination of technologies that increase the speed of reading and writing to the HDD and a special LSI that increases processing speeds when sending digital broadcasts from the home server PC. In this way, it is possible to record two digital broadcast programs simultaneously, or to have two people in different locations simultaneously enjoying digital broadcast programs or other contents recorded on the home server PC[1].

(2) PC on Demand

The home server PC also features Remote Screen Technology that can forward graphical or audio information from the home server PC via wireless LAN or other existing networks using NEC's original data compression and decompression format. In this way, users can access applications and services from outside using a compact, light weight, special terminal, almost as though they were using the actual home server PC in their own home[2].

2. Products That Realize Home Server/Client Solutions

(1) Home server PC, the core of the home network

- By connecting the home server PC to a television, the unit can be used as a high spec PC.

- This unit features Remote Screen Technology that enables the home server PC to be operated remotely from a special terminal.

- The home server PC also has two terrestrial digital high-definition tuners[3], so users can record two programs being broadcast simultaneously on two different channels. In addition, two recorded high-definition programs can be broadcast at the same time, so two users can enjoy different contents on a TV in one room and a PC in another.

- PC operations and recording operations are processed separately, so no extra burden is placed on PC operations (highly reliable design) even during recording.

(2) PC Remoters: Compact, light weight special terminals for PC on Demand.

[PC Remoter: Notebook Type]

- This terminal, which features a 10.6" (WXGA) LCD screen, measures 257x182mm (B5 size), and weighs about 650 grams. It also offers a comfortable input environment, with a keyboard similar to those found on notebook PCs.

[PC Remoter: Pocket Type]

- This palm-sized mobile terminal has a keyboard and a 4.1" (WVGA) LCD screen with a touch panel function, and weighs about 250 grams.

The PC remoter and home server PC offer a highly secure communications environment, and are connected via a VPN (Virtual Private Network[4]) that encrypts data transmitted across the network. The remote terminal contains no hard disk or other recording device, so even if the terminal is lost, security is assured, because all data is stored on the home server PC.

NEC also plans to offer a PC Remoter Server Board, which is an optional board that adds the home server PC's remote access functions (PC on Demand) to an existing PC[5].

NEC will continue to enhance "Contents on Demand" and "PC on Demand" and improve on its home server/client solutions for next generation networks (NGN). In the future, it will expand on this new Personal Solutions business by providing environments in which digital contents and devices can be used "anytime, anywhere." For example, it will strive to develop terminals that offer a broader range of usage scenes including multi-channel recording functions for digital broadcasts, mobile WiMAX compatibility, and terminals that are waterproof or can be hung on a wall.