Venture capitalists invested $1 billion more in the technology sector in the first half of the year than in the same period last year, and have shown a particular interest in digital technology for the home, a research firm said Wednesday.

VCs pumped $6.89 billion into the sector, compared with $5.85 billion a year ago, Datamonitor said. In terms of number of deals, there were 602 as of the end of June, up from 513 transactions during the first six months of 2005.

VCs have been particularly interested in Internet television, home entertainment and other multimedia products for the home, Datamonitor analyst Tom Jowitt said. VC money is also flowing toward online advertising, broadband and online social networks.

The biggest deal in the first half of the year was Amp'd Mobile, a wireless broadband service provider that picked up $150 million in financing from the venture arms of Intel and Qualcomm. This brought the total invested in Amp'd to $250 million. Previous big-name investors include MTV and Universal Music Group.

Another big winner was Communications Group Ltd., a broadband-over-power lines company that secured $130 million in funding from heavy hitters TXU Corp, Earthlink, General Electric, Google Inc, Goldman Sachs & Co and The Hearst Corp.

For all of last year, VCs made more than 1,000 deals valued at $12.82 billion, Datamonitor said.