Photos: A peek inside BT's assault on the digital home

Facilitating death matches

BT has taken the wraps off the latest lot of gadgets that it hopes will take off in the digital home.

This A4-sized device is the BT 'home hub'. It's essentially a wi-fi router but it links up to a number of BT gadgets, such as the telco's new internet radio and videophone.

Mimicking rival Wanadoo's Livebox strategy, BT will be giving away the home hub for free for customers on more expensive broadband tariffs, to encourage them to take up advanced services, although fat pipe tightwads can also buy the device for £30.

Also following in the footsteps of Wanadoo (now Orange Broadband), BT is getting into the home security market. A new package which lets worrywarts keep tabs on their home remotely using an internet dashboard is being piloted now and could launch this September. Kit is expected to cost around £220, with a monthly subscription of around £4.

Photo credit: BT

The iPod-styled hub will also now serve to carry the BT Fusion service, which lets a customer use one phone to make both landline and mobile calls. Previously, Bluetooth rather than wi-fi had been used as a bridge between a Fusion user's mobile and the PC's modem.

Currently, there are just two phones that will work with BT Fusion, both made by Motorola. One, the Razr V3x, can be seen here.

The telco is promising more device manufacturers will join the roster before the end of the year. "We're in talks with Nokia," a spokesman said. "That's looking good."

Photo credit: BT

BT has also unveiled its own brand internet radio. The radio can apparently pick up more than 10,000 stations via the home hub, as well as playing on-demand radio and MP3s.

The radio will go on sale from September and, although no price has yet been decided, it's expected to cost between £149 and £199.

Photo credit: BT

BT has also added to its stable of hardware with the launch of a video phone - which does exactly what it says on the tin, allowing chinwaggers to watch their collocutor and themselves on the small screen as they chat.

The handset also comes with a SIM card slot, so users can transfer their mobile contacts onto their landline.

Photo credit: BT

The hub also works to connect Xbox users to the internet for a spot of online gaming.

A spokesman noted: "You can set up a death match or a co-operative."

Photo credit: BT