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Wireless USB gadgets start the onslaught

Krell expects tier-one laptop makers to bring Wireless USB support to market this quarter, with the first peripherals -- hard drives, laser printers and multifunction printers -- arriving in the fourth quarter of the year. 'Bleeding-edge' handheld devices such as cameras, phones and music players will probably be shown off in January at the Consumer Electronics Show. It should arrive in TVs and set-top boxes by Christmas 2008.

"2009 and 2010 will really be the ramp years," Krell said, predicting that Wireless USB eventually will grow as ubiquitous as today's wired USB.

Take-up rate
The spread of Wireless USB will depend in part on cost and educational issues.

Although Wireless USB will, to a certain extent, compete with Bluetooth -- for example, in sharing images taken with a mobile phone camera -- next-generation Bluetooth 3.0 and Wireless USB are also allies. They both use the same underlying radio communication technology, called ultra wideband, or UWB. That technology works by spreading low-power communication signals across a broad tract of the radio-frequency spectrum.

Because Wireless USB and Bluetooth 3.0 both use ultra wideband, device makers can use the same radios for either, aiding high-volume adoption. "Volume is going to drive cost down quickly," Ravencraft said.

Bluetooth is already established, but version 3.0 is expected to arrive in the market in about two years, Rebello said.

Ultra wideband has an inherent complication, though. Because of the breadth of ultra wideband's spectrum, the technology runs into different regulatory barriers in different countries. The US, Japan, Europe and Korea have concluded which portions of spectrum ultra-wideband devices may use, and Canada and China are closing in on their requirements, Ravencraft said.

Another obstacle is education. Users must authorise connections by associating devices with PCs. One method is by plugging in a device with a USB cable, which triggers the computer to ask if the user wants to permit one-time or any future wireless connections. This method is useful for authenticating Wireless USB devices that lack a screen.

The second method, called 'numeric compare', is useful for devices with screens. In it, the PC generates a number and sends it to the device wirelessly. The user checks to see if the numbers match, and if they do, the user can authorise that connection and, if desired, future connections.

But education also works in USB's favour. Much of the user experience, from bleeping alerts and pop-up dialogue boxes asking how to handle files, are identical going from conventional to Wireless USB. And life is easier for programmers, too, who can recycle the 'driver' software that PCs need to communicate with various devices.

People will learn about the workings of Wireless USB, though, Ravencraft predicted. The USB Implementers Forum is training sales staff at retailers, is guaranteeing compatibility by permitting use of logos on certified products and is working on advertising to help improve awareness, he said.

Lenovo expects the Wireless USB learning curve to be easy. "It should be plug-and-play," said Rajat Aggarwal, worldwide marketing manager for the company's T Series Thinkpad products. The company is still assessing how widely to support Wireless USB across its product lines, but it won't be as ubiquitous as 802.11 wireless networking, he said.

Soon the market will begin deciding how fast to adopt Wireless USB. USB allies are hoping to toot their horns to get things started.

"We're really on the cusp of seeing our first end-user products certified," Ravencraft said. "We're going to make hay about it."