New York:
Bluetooth, the popular wireless technology, could get a lot faster next
year by taking advantage of Wi-Fi technology already built into many
gadgets.
Linking Bluetooth and Wi-Fi may make it easier and
faster to transfer large amounts of music between computers and cell
phones, or send pictures from a camera phone to a printer, or video
from a camcorder to a TV.
Michael Foley, director of the
Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), said the first devices with the
technology could be on the market in the middle of next year. The
industry group, which has more than 10,000 member companies, announced
Monday that it is pursuing the technology and will make it available
next year.
A fast transfer channel for Bluetooth using a
different technology, ultra-wideband (UWB), was announced in 2006, but
delays in getting it to work prompted the look at Wi-Fi too, Foley said.
Some
products, like laptops, already combine Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functions,
but they work off separate chips. In the new version, manufacturers
will use single chips still under development that combine Bluetooth
and Wi-Fi capabilities.
“It does appear that the first products
... are going to be Bluetooth-Wi-Fi, and our members want to take
advantage of that,” Foley said, adding that all the major makers of
Bluetooth chips are participating in the project.
The
combination devices will use the regular low-power Bluetooth radios to
recognise each other and establish connections. If they need to
transfer a large file, they will be able to turn on their Wi-Fi radios,
then turn them off to save power after finishing the transfer, Foley
said.
The new technology doesn’t have a name, and it isn’t clear
how consumers will be able to tell it apart from Bluetooth-UWB devices,
which the industry group still supports.
“This in no way ...
changes our vision of using ultra-wideband technology for high speed
when that technology is ready,” Foley said.
Group Moderator for
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Connect your World with Us join Now -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dimpill_gang/join
Affiliated group from dimpill_gang for Only Adult Mails -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fantazies/join
Affiliated group from dimpill_gang for Only Health and Food Mails -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Health_and_Gourmet/join
Did you know? You can CHAT without downloading messenger. Go to
http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php/
