Hasta La Gadget!

So, Bluetooth — last fall didn’t end up being as frightful as you had probably imagined, but this fall is bound to be different. Or so the Wi-Fi Alliance says. If you’ll recall, Wi-Fi Direct promised to do what Bluetooth had been doing for years, but with far less fuss and on a protocol that’s much more widespread. A solid year has come and gone, and we’ve heard nary a word from any company who plans on implementing it. Thankfully for us all, that changes today. Starting in mere moments, Wi-Fi Direct devices will begin the certification process, and while we couldn’t extract exact product details or a release time frame for future wares on a media call regarding the announcement, we did get the impression that at least a few partners were trying to get Wi-Fi Direct wares onto shelves before Christmas.

As for functionality, the claims are fairly impressive. In order to make a direct device-to-device connection over WiFi, just one of the two need to be Wi-Fi Direct certified. In other words, a Wi-Fi Direct printer can recognize and interface with your Latitude D410 laptop from 1999, as all Wi-Fi Direct certified devices have to be able to control the one-to-one relationship. The goal here is pretty simple — it’s to create a protected connection between two devices over WiFi with as little hassle as possible. Think Bluetooth, but using WiFi. We also learned that “most” products certified will also support “one-to-many” connections, enabling a Wi-Fi Direct laptop to be in contact with a printer, connected HDTV and a tablet simultaneously, with no router in-between at any point. We should also point out that while 802.11a/g/n is supported over 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, there’s no requirement for Wi-Fi Direct products to support 802.11b, so legacy users may want to pay attention to that quirk.

There’s also no new hardware requirements here, so in theory, any existing WiFi chipset could be upgraded via firmware to handle Wi-Fi Direct — whether or not that’ll happen on a large scale was a question the Wi-Fi Alliance couldn’t answer for us. Finally, they noted that the app ecosystem is likely to make this whole rollout a lot more interesting, particularly considering that Direct is simply a pipe that software can dictate as it sees fit. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the developments here; we’ve waited way too long for this to blossom, but we’re pretty jazzed about the possibilities. Head on past the break for a video overview of how Wi-Fi Direct works.

Continue reading Wi-Fi Direct certification begins today, device-to-device transmission starting soon

Wi-Fi Direct certification begins today, device-to-device transmission starting soon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Wi-Fi Alliance  | Email this | Comments

It’s a pretty long trip down memory lane for us to return to ASUS’ ultra-thin RT-56U router; last time we saw it was behind plexiglass at CeBIT in March. At long last it’s returned to the spotlight, only this time that luminance is provided by the FCC’s notorious labs. The dual-band Gigabit Wireless-N device gets just one image — and given the unflattering angle, we’re not quite sure if it’s retained that slender figure. The filing is dated October 11 with a 45-day confidentiality agreement and enough references to US sales that we wouldn’t be surprised to see it hit stateside retail in the not-too-distant future — with or without its lean frame.

ASUS’ ultra-thin RT-N6U router hits FCC, adherence to diet in question originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments

While our eye-hand clicking capabilities are usually relegated to “upload image” and “RT” and the occasional “ban commenter,” that doesn’t stop us from dreaming of a world where we’re an elite vid-gamer (that’s “video gamer” to any n00bs out there), an entire virtual world at our beck and call. Razer can help us live that dream with its Naga MMO mouse, which has a wild assortment of numbered buttons on its side to be theoretically assigned to those high-powered abilities we’ve theoretically invested countless hours into obtaining — or theoretically paid a good price to a gold farmer for. Now Razer has a wireless version of the 5600 dpi laser mouse, using the same wired / wireless tech of the Razer Mamba (which is nice for when a theoretical gaming session stretches beyond the 12 hour continuous use mark the mouse is rated for) to let you plug in at will. There’s also a charging dock that conveniently doubles as the 2.4GHz wireless base station. “That’s great, Razer,” you might say, “but what will I put this mouse on top of?” They’re glad you asked. Razer is simultaneously launching a new ultrasmooth mousepad dubbed “Ironclad,” built out of a single piece of aluminum. The pad will retail for $60 this month, with the mouse following for $130 in November.

Razer debuts wireless Naga MMO mouse, Ironclad mousepad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Razer (Naga), Razer (Ironclad)  | Email this | Comments

The Verizon iPhone is coming next year. Verizon’s 4G LTE service is launching next year, covering a third of Americans. Ergo, a 4G iPhone is on the way. Except it’s not. Not for a couple of years. More »

We’re live from CTIA 2010 in San Francisco, where newly-appointed Verizon president and COO Lowell McAdam has taken the stage. He’s been on the job just five days now, but he’s already got a nice spot of news: Verizon will have LTE connections in 38 markets as soon as they flip the switch — up from the 30 football cities announced earlier this month. More exciting, a host of LTE devices are on the way, too: “Come CES at January, and we will show half-a-dozen smartphones and tablets from the top OEMs in the world that will be available in the first half of the year,” said McAdam. 8 to 12 megabits per second, here we come. See the full tentative 4G coverage map with a list of confirmed cities in our gallery below.

Verizon to debut LTE in 38 cities, ‘half a dozen’ 4G smartphones and tablets in 1H 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments