CES 2007: Network AQUOS promises HD over power lines

By John Morris on 10 January 2007
Many companies at CES are working on products that combine TV programming with related content from the Internet and distribute it throughout the home (Microsoft demonstrated some of these capabilities with Vista and Media Center Extenders during its keynote on Sunday). But Sharp is the first company to demonstrate a prototype product that can stream two simultaneous HD feeds and Internet content over the existing power lines in your home.

The technology, called Network AQUOS, uses PowerLine Communication modems to connect the TV and PC, and transmit high-quality audio, video and online content over Homeplug AV, a high-speed networking standard. At its booth, Sharp is demonstrating how you can watch a NASCAR race, for example, on an AQUOS high-definition LCD TV, and simultaneously download ticket information and directions (via Yahoo! Maps) through the computer and view it in the living room, without getting up off the couch--all through power lines.

Sharp hasn't said when Network AQUOS might find its way into the company's LCD TV line, but this working prototype is promising enough to pique our curiosity.