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Mike Antoniak is a freelance journalist, who writes frequently on technology.
Mike's Next Column: July 2
Previously by Antoniak:
Congress Targets Car Calls
Mac Users are Believers
Adding Interactivity to Virtual Tours
Notebooks at a Bargin | | Look, No Wires
Connectivity--Phase II
Watch for standards when going wireless.
REPORTED BY MICHAEL ANTONIAK
IBM’s announcement that it will build wireless capabilities into its next generation of laptops, as reported in the last" /> “Tech Watch” column, will soon make it easy for you to pick up you computer and go from office, to car, to home, without unscrewing cables. Wireless will also let you access the Internet during a presentation in the conference room or set up your home office without tangles of connector cables.
But as other vendors follow IBM’s lead and consumer awareness about wireless becomes more widespread, the lack of a single standard for wireless communication in all types of products could slow the movement toward a completely wireless world. There are currently two, incompatible wireless standards used my wireless equipment manufacturers: Wi-Fi, or 802.11b, and Bluetooth. Wi-Fi, short for wireless fidelity, empowers the wireless equivalent of the local area network found in most offices. Users of equipment with built-in or expansion-card Wi-Fi capabilities can easily maintain a connection to the company’s network server from anywhere in the office. One of the selling points of Wi-Fi networks is that they can move data at significantly faster rates than conventional networks.
The standard is endorsed by the nonprofit Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, whose members include such industry heavyweights as IBM, Apple, Compaq, and 3Comm. The alliance independently tests and certifies products that use its standard to ensure interoperability.
Bluetooth, on the other hand, was originally developed to provide short-range (30 feet) radio communication among devices in locations such as a typical home office. Because of its low power requirements, Bluetooth continues to be the preferred wireless standard for add-on cards in the mobile handheld devices you use, like PDAs and cell phones.
Both standards are garnering support from vendors; in fact, some vendors are offering both options in the same equipment so that users can use whatever standard is in place in their office. Compaq for example, supports the Wi-Fi standard in its new Evo N400 notebook but plans to offer Bluetooth compatibility, via a USB peripheral connection, later this year. Hewlett Packard is reportedly developing a Bluetooth PC card that can be added to its computers and an accessory kit that will retrofit some of its printers with Bluetooth compatibility.
The importance of wireless gets even more exciting for real estate practitioners who own Palm models m500 and m505. Palm just announced it will offer a Bluetooth card for these units’ expansion module by year’s end. When used in conjunction with Bluetooth-equipped PCs and peripherals, the $150 card will allow you to print from your Palm, synchronize data with a PC, or access the Internet without any form of cable connection.
With all this activity and support from vendors, it looks like the future of networking will be wireless, even if neither standard emerges as a current winner. So whether you’re buying equipment for the home, the office, or the field, wireless capabilities---either built-in or as an upgrade option--should now be one of the considerations guiding your purchase.
Apple offers a Clearer View
If you’re tired of how much space that TV-tube sized monitor takes up in your home office, but didn’t want to spend the big bucks for a flat-screen monitor, you may be in luck. Apple Computer has announced plans to phase out the familiar CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor in favor or LCD (liquid crystal display) screens already used on laptops. LCD screens offer the dual advantage of delivering high-resolution images and taking up less space on your desktop. And if more vendors follow Apple’s lead to widespread use of LCD screens, increased production capacity may soon result in lower price points and make flat screens more affordable. | |
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