In 2014, CTIA will combine its two annual conventions into one, but that isn’t the only sign of smart trade shoe consolidation activity. Groups representing four significant standards organizations will have a unified presence at CES, an alliance of alliances. They are the groups that reign supreme for home networking over coax (MoCA), powerlines (HomePlug) and wireless LANs (Wi-Fi) as well as DLNA, the group that most everybody except outside of Cupertino, CA uses for routing personal (and increasingly premium) content around these networks.
In particular, the groups focused on the media (powerlines, coax, wireless) have come a long way from the days they would argue about which approach was best. Wi-Fi, of course, has emerged as the most popular consumer choice but the home networking boom has offered opportunity for multiple topologies. That’s not to say that all home networking standards will be represented at the CES love-in. Notably absent is HomeGrid, the HomePlug and MoCA rival. Still, this should provide a great glimpse of home networking applications from multiple perspectives.