Chip Helps Electric Outlet Go Broadband

By YURI KAGEYAMA
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 29, 2005; 8:58 AM

TOKYO -- The common electric socket will serve as your home's connection to broadband with a new chip developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. _ doing away with all the Ethernet cables or the hassle of hooking up to a wireless network device.

Products are still being developed, but gadgets embedded with the chip from the Japanese manufacturer of Panasonic products can hook up to a broadband network by plugging into the common electrical outlet, company officials said Thursday."