As you might remember from a previous article, rumors regarding Cisco's intentions of getting involved in the consumer electronics market have been floating around for quite some time now, but since CES is almost ready to open its gates to the hordes of technology-hungry visitors, the company has made it all official. Thus, besides a media hub NAS, Cisco has also introduced the Linksys by Cisco Wireless Home Audio Family, a whole-house, multi-zone audio system that, quite obviously, employs the most popular networking options around, namely Ethernet, draft 802.11n wireless networking and DLNA 1.5.

As Tim Higgins over at SmallNetBuilder informs us, the audio system is formed of several separate components, which can be combined according to the user's wishes, who can choose one of the three available players, accompanied by powered speakers, a wireless, touchscreen remote control, plus an iPod docking station.

The players are pretty much the most important components of this system, so we'll focus mainly on this issue. Thus, the three available players are the DMC350 Conductor Wireless-N Digital Music Center, the DMC250 Director Wireless-N Music Player with Integrated Amplifier and, finally, the DMP100 Player Wireless-N Music Extender, each providing its particular set of features.

The first model (DMC350 Conductor) is the most complex of them all, since it features integrated speakers, seven inch LCD touch screen, integrated CD player and IR Remote It's also the last to be released, with no pricing or availability data being provided for the time being. The DMC250 Director version is a slightly downgraded version, with no CD player and speakers, but instead featuring a built-in 50 W amplifier and selling for 450 US dollars. The last model, the DMP100, is an entry-level player, which sports stereo line outputs, but loses the display, CD player and the amplifier. For this reason, it's also the most affordable of them all, being priced at just around 300 US dollars.

The Linksys by Cisco Wireless Home Audio Family is completed by the DMWR1000 Controller Wireless-N Touchscreen Remote ($349.99 MSRP), the DSPK50 Stereo Speaker Kit (priced at 150 US dollars) and the MCCI40 iPod Dock ($79.99 MSRP). The company has also assembled several kits comprising some of these products, going between 550 and 1000 US dollars.













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