Wi-Fi Direct to enable swarms of devices and make Wi-Fi life easier: businessweek.com
<Going Wi-Fi is about to get a lot easier. For many consumers, setting up an in-home Wi-Fi connection point is something of a hassle. Before you can enjoy the convenience of logging onto the Web without cables and wires, you need to hook up some gear and create your own "hotspot."
But that's set to change come mid-2010, when a tech upgrade will make it easier for users of consumer electronics to exchange files between electronic gadgets.
On Oct. 14, the Wi-Fi Alliance, a tech industry consortium, said its members will release technology that effectively turns gadgets into mini access points, able to create wireless connections with other Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets or broadband modems within a radius of about 300 feet. The alliance includes Intel (INTC), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Apple (AAPL), and more than 300 other makers of the equipment that runs Wi-Fi networks, often used to provide wireless Web connections in homes, cafés, hotels, and airports.
SALES EROSION POSSIBLE
The new technology, called Wi-Fi Direct, will be built directly into consumer electronics and automatically scan the vicinity for existing hotspots and the gamut of Wi-Fi equipped devices, including phones, computers, TVs, and gaming consoles. Owners of most existing Wi-Fi-enabled devices will be able to upgrade to Wi-Fi Direct with a simple software download.
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Members of the Wi-Fi Alliance plan to promote their new technology with a major marketing blitz. Intel has already begun briefing retailers, who will promote the feature in their stores, says Gary Martz, senior product manager at Intel. The chipmaker will also heavily promote the capability in the first quarter of 2010 as it unveils its next-generation Wi-Fi chip package for computers.
Chipmaker Marvell (MRVL), meantime, is planning to collaborate with its consumer-electronics partners to mark enabled devices with special stickers and to promote the capability through ads. "We will make a big splash with Wi-Fi Direct," says Bart Giordano, product marketing manager at Marvell.
A BOON FOR SMARTPHONES
Almost half of the 760 North American consumers surveyed in May by In-Stat said they use their Wi-Fi-enabled devices for more than connecting to the Internet. "We feel that it opens up a whole new set of applications and use cases," Giordano says. "Wi-Fi Direct will really drive the next generation of growth in [the use of Wi-Fi] consumer devices."
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There's also growing interest from manufacturers of cheaper cell phones, Giordano says. Today, Wi-Fi can be found mostly on high-end smartphone models. "The new use cases are really going to allow the technology to proliferate among devices it's not been considered for," Giordano says. "We are expecting that this will drive a lot of growth for us." Worldwide, shipments of Wi-Fi-enabled cell phones should rise from 64.9 million units last year to 314 million units in 2013, according to consultant IDC. "This technology is going to be ubiquitous in every notebook and netbook in 12 to 18 months; it's going to be a very fast ramp," Martz says. "And I think that's a pretty conservative [estimate]."
Kharif is a senior writer for BusinessWeek.com in Portland, Ore.>
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