Home networks came of age in 2005, as ever more families acquired their second or third computer, then twigged that a simple-to-set-up, and relatively cheap, wireless router would instantly transform their individual machines into one home network. WiFi is the ideal digital dogsbody, no longer merely a means of checking office e-mails while watching Scrubs on the sofa. By linking all your computers at speeds of up to 108Mbps — far faster than broadband — it will ferry music, video and documents from room to room.

Want to listen to your desktop computer’s MP3 collection in the conservatory? Simply access it from your laptop, plug in some speakers, and press play. Set up one wireless printer and the whole family can run off photos, recipes and school projects — a key concern with the BBC about to launch its digital curriculum, and a study by the London School of Economics reporting that more than one in three teenagers lives in a home with several computers.

If you have a large home, the latest 802.11g routers with Mimo technology will provide a powerful signal, right to the end of the garden. No wonder that PC World reports WiFi kit as the year’s hottest seller.

The real beauty of a WiFi network is that the connected family can share one superfast broadband pipe. Take Rafie Hannona. In order for his whole family (pictured, right) to share the same £30 internet connection, he set up a network within their west London semi to link four computers and an online games console. Dad, a doctor, can catch up with important seminars, mum can book the next family holiday, Rafie’s brother can take on the world as an online gamer, while Rafie watches the latest high-res movie trailers. All at the same time, without clogging the network. SM

ARMCHAIR ASTRONAUT
Google Earth

Many software packages promise the earth, but deliver little. Google Earth became a must-have download during 2005 (free at earth.google.com) by taking the virtual traveller on a breathtaking whizz around the planet with awesome graphic finesse. Dizzying 3-D fly-throughs of landmarks such as the Grand Canyon and St Peter’s Basilica are stunning, but mere window-dressing. The real power of Google Earth lies in providing driving directions with road maps overlaid on satellite photography that is intricate, if variable in detail, so every junction can be viewed beforehand. With restaurants, hotels and shops pinpointed on national maps, Google’s ambition to be the world’s leading ad agency is clearly signposted. City types hailed Google as the General Motors of the “new” economy when the newcomer’s shares reached an all-time high and the old-tech giant’s fell to a 20-year low. Google has even laid claim to the moon at moon.google.com. Another small step. BC

BUZZ WORD OF THE YEAR
Podcasting

Podcasts are simply MP3 files, usually of talk-based radio shows, that are free to download and play on a computer or portable music player, at any time after being broadcast. Clever software will deploy RSS to automatically download programmes to order, as they become available. The benefit is in bagging, say, Christian O’Connell’s Five Live Fighting Talk show without having to set a recorder. Podcasting went mainstream when the BBC bigged it up (see www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial) and Apple integrated it into iTunes, but there are plenty of freeware alternatives for non-iPod owners, and portals such as www.podcastalley.com, in which to snout truffles. The real beauty is that a savvy amateur, armed merely with a microphone, a computer and some chutzpah, can now find an audience by submitting an RSS feed to a podcasting portal, or uploading audio files for airing on the world’s first all-podcast radio station, kyouradio.com. So, to all those humble podcasters reaching out to be loved, Doors embraces you. Rock on. AP

CYBER SANDINISTAS’ CHALLENGE SHIELD
Arctic Monkeys

The Sheffield rock band Arctic Monkeys have blazed a trail to make the web the place for music fans to discover new music. In October, these children of the digital revolution scored a No 1 UK chart hit with their debut release, I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, thanks largely to word-of-mouse buzz created online at message boards and community sites such as www.myspace.com, where tuned-in surfers swapped their unreleased music free and the band communicated with fans on an almost daily basis. Indeed, these cyber Sandinistas had amassed a vast virtual fanbase long before registering on the radar of the record industry. Have the moguls, MTV and the music press had their day? SPK

TIME-SHIFT REVOLUTIONARY
You, the television time lord

With two homes in three now converted, digital television was firmly on the radar in 2005, as savvy viewers embraced easy-to-use personal video recorders (PVRs) to become digital time lords, thus freeing themselves both from the tyranny of broadcasting schedules and the nightmare of setting a VCR. The arch exponent of the PVR has so far been Sky+, but plenty of Freeview machines have reached the shops, such as Humax’s PVR-9200T, which now presents Sky+ with a worthy rival among time-shifters. From the big boys of consumer electronics, who waited for the starting gun of a firm government timetable for switching off traditional analogue signals, came breakthrough “time machines” such as Sony’s RDR-HXD710, a first-rate DVD recorder and built-in digital tuner. This means viewers can either time-shift or archive recordings with one multifunctional box for less than £400. Soon, the television schedulers will be as redundant as David Davis’s campaign notes. BC

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