Posted: 7/24/2007 1:52:20 PM EDT
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www.theregister.com/2007/07/24/first_wireless_usb/ USB goes Wireless First certified devices launched By Bill Ray Published Tuesday 24th July 2007 15:46 GMT The first devices submitted for Wireless USB certification have been approved, and four of them will be in US shops by the end of the summer. Laptops from Dell and Lenovo, as well as hubs (and adapters) from IO Gear and D-Link, are the first devices to receive Wireless USB certification: ensuring that they'll work properly together and conform to the Wireless USB standard. Belkin is already selling a Wireless USB hub-and-adapters set, but that pre-dates certification, and performance varies as the reviews on Amazon show. The great thing about Wireless USB is the way it integrates with the USB standard; by equipping any device with an adapter it can instantly become wireless, without changes to the drivers or configuration. Eventually the hope is that Wireless USB will become integrated into devices, but until then hubs will come with adapters to connect legacy devices. It certainly has the speed to replace most wires; peaking at 480Mb/sec over short distances, it uses Ultra Wideband (UWB) to create masses of bandwidth by utilising low power across a range of frequencies. Right now it's not legal to use Wireless USB in the UK; though UWB is notoriously difficult to detect. The EU believes that legislation to legalise some form of UWB is necessary to prevent everyone importing the kit from the US and using it anyway. Those approved products are: Dell Inspiron 1720 notebook D-Link–Wireless USB Adapter (DUB-1210) & 4-Port Wireless USB Hub (DUB-2240) IOGEAR’s Wireless USB Hub & Adapter Kit Lenovo ThinkPad T61/T61p 15.4-inch Widescreen Notebook Observers predict European regulators will act quickly if grey imports mean the kit starts to appear in Europe. |
We have the FCC to control our signal bands, they have a similar agency. Lately, there has been significant international cooperation in signal band licensing and technical white papers. |
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Bluetooth's bandwidth (the max amount of information that can be transferred per second) is far, far lower than Wireless USB, and because there are lots of high-bandwidth USB devices, you couldn't use Bluetooth to convert USB devices to wireless. Bluetooth works fine for low-bandwidth purposes, such as wireless keyboards & mice, but the bandwidth is being pushed when used to supply two channels of audio, such as a wireless headset. The primary thing that sets Bluetooth apart is that it was designed specifically to use very little power, knowing that it would be heavily used by battery-powered devices. -Troy |
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Guys, what I think this will do is allow a USB hub (you know, that little box that plugs into a USB port on your computer, that has a lot of USB ports to connect your other shit to?) will be wirelessly connected to your PC. This means, I could put a wireless USB hub in my closet, with a couple hard drives or whatever else, and connect to it without having to run cables all over the place. Eventually, USB devices like external hard drives will be able to connect directly to the PC through the wireless USB system. Less cables to fuck with. |
Look up Bluetooth 3.0. Coming soon! IIRC, it's 540x faster than traditional Bluetooth.
www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/bluetooth.html?page=3 |
Well, the link I've posted above says something about Bluetooth being for very short range communication (it works up to about 10 meters), but the Wireless USB would be used for greater distances. So, I bet it would be pretty useful in a home, or small office. |