DLNA Network Certification To Get Windows 7 Boost: ABI

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The inclusion of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) support in Microsoft's planned Windows 7 operating system will give DNLA “a further push into the living room and beyond,” ABI Research director Jason Blackwell contended.

The research company forecast manufacturer shipments of more than 300 million DLNA-certified consumer electronics devices in 2012, up from almost 200 million such products shipped in 2008. Shipments will grow at a faster rate after 2012, ABI said. More than 5,500 devices available worldwide, including A/V receivers and flat-screen TVs, have received DLNA certification.

Consumers increasingly want to distribute digital media content around their homes, Blackwell said, but without standardization, “that is a nightmare.” Specs developed by DLNA, however, are based on the Universal Plug and Play standard to “enable easy, seamless connections in a wide and growing range of consumer electronics devices.”

DLNA support in the Windows 7 operating system, due in October, will give DNLA an additional boost. With Windows 7, for example, consumers would be able to “push a sequence of stored photos out to a digital picture frame,” he said. “Much of this new Windows functionality will be implemented through the new version of Windows Media Player, which will have a 'Play to' command, allowing the user to choose among several DLNA-networked playback devices to display a particular video or other media file.”

DLNA's next task is to increase participation by broadband service providers that offer set-top boxes and gateways, he said.