Megan Novak
The Ardell Group for HomePlug
(858) 792-2939
RadioShack Chairman and CEO, BusinessWeek Technology Pundit, and Cisco-Linksys Engineering Leader to Keynote 2007 HomePlug Powerline Technology Conference
- Industry Leaders to Discuss What Lies Ahead for HomePlug and the Powerline Communications Industry at 3rd Annual Conference -
San Ramon, Calif. – September 18, 2007 –The HomePlug® Powerline Alliance today announced three top-level and well-known keynote speakers for October’s HomePlug Powerline Technology Conference: Julian Day, chairman and CEO of RadioShack; Stephen Wildstrom, BusinessWeek Magazine’s “Tech & You” columnist; and Martin Manniche, senior director of engineering at Linksys; a Division of Cisco Systems, Inc. These three speakers will provide insight into this growing industry and discuss the increasing importance of HomePlug powerline communications in mainstream applications.
"The HomePlug Powerline Alliance has made significant strides in all areas of powerline communications over the past year,” said Matthew Theall of Intel Corporation, who serves as the president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. “As keynote speakers, Mr. Day, Mr. Wildstrom and Mr. Manniche all bring unique expertise, perspective and insight for conference attendees on this ever-growing industry and the future of the connected home.”
Julian Day was named chairman and chief executive officer of RadioShack in July 2006. Mr. Day had previously served successfully in senior leadership positions at several large publicly traded retailing companies in the U.S. and played a key role in revitalizing such companies as Safeway, Sears and Kmart. One of the original founders of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, RadioShack has served on the HomePlug Alliance Board of Directors consistently since the year 2000, and they currently chair the implementer's forum. RadioShack’s history with powerline communications is well-known, being an early supporter of command and control "home automation" technologies. RadioShack chaired the HomePlug Command & Control Specification Working Group, which HomePlug started in March 2005.
Stephen Wildstrom is a well-known writer and editor of BusinessWeek's personal technology column, "Technology & You," a position he has held since April 1994. His weekly column is written for readers who need to know how technology affects their everyday lives, at work and at home. Mr. Wildstrom’s long history with digital home technologies, products and market trends will offer conference attendees a unique insight on the connected home market. Mr. Wildstrom has served as a panelist at industry trade shows and conferences, including the Consumer Electronics Show. He has received two National Magazine Awards and a McGraw-Hill Achievement Award, and in 2002, Ad Week Magazine's Marketing Technology named Mr. Wildstrom the U.S. technology industry's No. 1 Media Influencer.
Martin Manniche is senior director of engineering at Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, Inc. He has been with the company since July 2005 and has the responsibility of developing new network entertainment products for the Linksys Consumer Business Organization. Mr. Manniche is head networking architect for the Linksys line of connected home products worldwide in terms of innovation, product development and engineering.Prior to Linksys, Mr. Manniche was the co-founder of KiSS Technology in Denmark, the leading provider of networked entertainment solutions such as Internet enabled digital media adapters, DVD players and set top boxes.
The 3rd Annual HomePlug Powerline Technology Conference will be held on October 11 and 12 at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara in Santa Clara, California. The conference will feature expert speakers and panelists from multiple industries who will explain how their companies are employing HomePlug technology for use with consumer electronics, home networking, electric utility applications, and command and control applications. Conference attendees will have access to a variety of panel discussions and speakers covering topics such as the unique digital home applications of high-speed HomePlug technologies, current BPL trials and rollouts, the latest applications for HomePlug’s AV technology including applications for HDTV and other forms of digital entertainment, compliance and interoperability of the HomePlug standard, a look at the year ahead and more.
The complete program for the 3rd Annual HomePlug Powerline Technology Conference can be found by visiting
Sponsors of this year’s conference include: Arkados, Inc., Asoka USA Corporation, GigaFast, Intellon Corporation, YitranCommunicationsand ZyXEL Communications. Those interested in attending the conference can register by visiting Early registration is encouraged as seating is limited. The conference fee is $799 for non-HomePlug members, with significant discounts to the alliance’s membership. Complimentary passes are available to pre-registered members of the press.
For additional information on the HomePlug Powerline Alliance or the Technology Conference, please visit,
About the HomePlug® Powerline Alliance:
The HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Inc. is an industry-led initiative established to create specifications for home high-speed powerline networking products and command & control among platforms within the home, and broadband access services to the home. The Alliance accelerates demand for HomePlug-enabled products and services worldwide through the sponsorship of market and user education programs. Membership in the Alliance has grown to include more than 75 industry-leading companies. HomePlug Sponsor companies include Cisco (CSCO); Comcast (CMCSK); GE Security, Inc., an affiliate of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); Intel Corporation; LG Electronics (Korea Stock Exchange: 6657.KS); Motorola (MOT); RadioShack Corporation (RSH); Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SSNGY.PK); Sharp Laboratories of America; TCL Group Holding Co., Ltd (TCL Group); and Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE:TXN) (TI). Contributor members include Arkados (OTCBB: AKDS); Conexant (CNXT); Corporate Systems Engineering; Gigle Semiconductor; Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.; Intellon Corporation; and SPiDCOM Technologies. Additional information about the Alliance, including a complete listing of certified products, is available at
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HomePlug is a registered trademark of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, Inc. All other trademarks, trade names and service marks mentioned and/or used belong to their respective owners.
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