Linksys Announces Plans to Expand Digital Home With New Media Center Extenders

DMA2200 and DMA2100 Will Team with Dual-Band Wireless-N Router, Network Attached Storage and Wireless Video Camera to Offer Unparalleled Digital Home Solution

LAS VEGAS — From the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show, Linksys, a Division of Cisco, the leading provider of VoIP, wireless and networking hardware for the consumer and small business environments, today announced its new Media Center Extender with DVD Player (DMA2200) and Media Center Extender (DMA2100) are available for purchase. These new products will team with existing Linksys offerings, such as the WRT600N Ultra RangePlus Dual-Band Gigabit Router, NAS200 Network Storage System and WVC54GCA Home Monitoring Camera, to offer a complete home entertainment solution.

New Media Center Extender Capabilities

The DMA2200 and DMA2100 are enhanced to allow support for popular video and audio codecs such as Xvid, along with continued support for Windows Media® Video HD files. These extenders also support the ability to send protected HD content to additional rooms, including recorded TV from over-the-air ATSC or Cable Card tuners along with movies and music available from providers. Support is also included for features such as news feeds, Public Radio broadcasts, up-to-date sports reports, and subscription music.

Dual-Band Wireless-N

Both new Media Center Extenders are designed to leverage Dual-Band Wireless-N technology to receive content contained on a Media Center PC. Dual-band capabilities enable consumers to utilize the less-crowded 5 GHz wireless spectrum to separate the network streams that contain their entertainment content from those that contain traditional data content. This separation allows for greater network reliability when streaming latency-sensitive video or audio.

“The key to the success of the Linksys Media Center Extenders lies in our home networking expertise, particularly Dual-Band Wireless-N,” said Greg Memo, vice president and general manager, Linksys Consumer Business Organization. “Together with other Linksys devices like the Network Storage System and Home Monitoring Camera, the DMA2200 and DMA2100 offer consumers a whole-home solution that makes their lives easier and more enjoyable.”

Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president, Connected TV Division, Microsoft Corp said, “This is very exciting to see the Linksys DMA2100 and 2200 launch into the market. With built-in Wireless-N support, a compact design and a DVD player in the 2200, these devices deliver an excellent way to enjoy Windows Media Center content on a television.”

Plug-Ins

Media Center Extenders are designed to leverage the vast array of localized Plug-Ins that are built for and designed to be used with Media Center PCs. Examples of popular Plug-Ins are recipe depositories, alarm clocks, weather reports, comic strips, lottery results and multimedia organizational tools. A Plug-In has even been designed that allows consumers to access their WVC54GCA Home Monitoring Camera from their couch via Media Center.

Additional Storage

Teaming the NAS200 Network Storage System with a Media Center PC can greatly increase the space available to store home movies, audio content, and pictures that can then be enjoyed by any Media Center Extender on your home network.

Pricing and Availability

The DMA2200 and DMA2100 are available now through Linksys e-commerce resellers at estimated street prices (ESP) of $349.99 and $299.99 respectively. The WRT600N is available at an ESP of $279.99, the NAS200 is available at an ESP of $149.99, and the WVC54GCA is available for an ESP of $119.99.