Mae
| News and views on everything wireless and mobile, from WiFi and WiMAX to 3G and fixed-mobile convergence (FMC).
standards
Nokiaâs Wibree: The Next Bluetooth?
October 3, 2006The wireless story of today so far seems to be Nokia’s introduction of a new short-range wireless technology, dubbed Wibree, a possible competitor to Bluetooth.
Nokia is promoting Wibree as an “open industry initiative” designed to enable wireless connectivity between small devices (including watches, wireless keyboards, and toys) while consuming less power than other radio technologies. The company also says the new technology will be interoperable with Bluetooth.
In a press release, Nokia explains about the new technology: “Wibree is implemented either as stand-alone chip or as Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode chip.
D-Link Joins the 802.11n Crowd
October 18, 2006The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) hasn’t yet formally ratified its 802.11n wireless standard, but manufacturers already are planning or releasing products based on the draft specification. The latest to do so is D-Link, which today announced three new wireless devices based on draft 802.11n technology.
D-Link’s new products are the Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router, and two accompanying desktop and notebook adapters—DWA-552 and DWA-652. All three products, the company said in its press release, “are designed for consumers, small businesses and gamers who demand the highest performance possible from their wireless networks.”
T-Mobile Launches Dual-Mode Service in Seattle
October 26, 2006The big wireless news so far this week is T-Mobile’s launch of its dual-mode WiFi/Cellular service in Seattle.
TMCnet Associate Editor Patrick Barnard reported yesterday that the new service “lets T-Mobile’s subscribers make free phone calls using their at-home WiFi network or from any number of public WiFi hot spots which have been set up throughout the city. For now, only subscribers using the Nokia 6136 and the Samsung T709 dual mode phones can place free calls over WiFi.”
The new service uses Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology, which was developed by Kineto Wireless and is now part of 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) standards.
Symbol Technologies Bridges Various Radio Frequencies with RFS700 Switch
November 1, 2006Symbol Technologies, a company that specializes in enterprise mobility solutions, announced today what it says is the first ever radio frequency (RF) wireless switch (RFS7000) capable of bridging all RF technologies—including RFID, 802.11n, mesh, voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) and WiMAX.
In its announcement about RFS7000, Symbol said the switch “is designed to support and consolidate Wi-Fi and emerging RF technologies,” enabling businesses to “efficiently and cost-effectively deploy and centrally manage wireless voice, data and infrastructure devices throughout the RF spectrum.”
In an article today, Laptop Magazine reporter Jeffrey Wilson noted that the RFS7000 supports up to two-hundred and fifty-six 802.11a/b/g access port, and enables Layer 3 roaming, “which allows mobile users to maintain a connection to high-bandwidth applications as they roam.”
Here is an image of the unassuming-looking RFS7000, courtesy of newscom.com.
Yes to WiFi in Singapore, No to WiMAX in Germany
November 6, 2006Talk about vision. The government in Singapore this past summer announced a ten-year “digital future” plan (Singapore iN2015) to make the country number one in the world in terms of adding value to the economy and society using what it calls “infocomm” technologies.
InformationWeek, in its September 4, 2006 edition, reported that one of the iN2015 goals, to have connect at least 90 percent of homes up with broadband, is being pursued in conjunction with the efforts of service provider SingTel.
More specifically, the InformationWeek report notes that SingTel hopes to make nationwide WiFi a reality in Singapore by year’s end.
Samsung Promotes Mobile WiMAX with SPH-P9000 MIT Device
November 7, 2006It often seems to be the case that the latest and coolest wireless devices become available first in Asia, and eventually make their way to Europe and the U.S. Hopefully for us geeks, that will be the case with Samsung’s latest gadget, the WiMAX-enabled SPH-P9000 (or more affectionately referred to by Samsung as “MIT” for “Mobile Intelligent Terminal), which is a combination cell phone, MP3 player, and PDA with built-in QWERTY keyboard.
The device was unveiled today at Mobile WiMAX Summit in Seoul, South Korea.
In-Stat: WiMAX Set for Growth, But Still Faces Challenges
November 28, 2006So much news has been generated lately about WiFi that sometimes it seems as if the world has forgotten that technology’s younger, more powerful sibling, WiMAX.
But, market research firm In-Stat hasn’t forgotten. In a recent report, the firm predicted some significant growth in worldwide subscribers to WiMAX-based broadband.
In-Stat said it expects 2006 to yield 222,000 WiMAX subscribers, and that number should grow to 19.7 million by the end of 2010.
In-Stat: WiMAX Set for Growth, But Still Faces Challenges
November 28, 2006So much news has been generated lately about WiFi that sometimes it seems as if the world has forgotten that technology’s younger, more powerful sibling, WiMAX.
But, market research firm In-Stat hasn’t forgotten. In a recent report, the firm predicted some significant growth in worldwide subscribers to WiMAX-based broadband.
In-Stat said it expects 2006 to yield 222,000 WiMAX subscribers, and that number should grow to 19.7 million by the end of 2010.
Will Wibree Unseat the Bluetooth King?
November 29, 2006A reader of this blog recently e-mailed me to ask what I know about the differences between Bluetooth and Wibree. I had to admit to myself that I really didn’t understand the differences and similarities much better than my reader. So I set out to educate myself.
First stop was Wikipedia, where I uncovered the follow definitions for the two technologies.
ABI Predicts Wibree Growth, If...
November 30, 2006Yesterday in this blog, I wrote about the differences and similarities between established wireless standard Bluetooth and new-kid-on-the-block Wibree. Talk about good timing—guess what landed in my mailbox today? A report from ABI Research regarding the future of, you guessed it, Wibree.
Specifically, ABI is predicting that the market for Wibree products could be worth $513 million by 2011—if certain things happen.
