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Welcome to todays Wireless Update! It looks like a contentious week ahead, as Intel and Gartner are already sparring! Heres whats new in the world of wireless for this first week of November 2003
Intel Adds 802.11a to Centrino, Gartner Says Forget It: It didnt take respected Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney long to drive a nail into Intels latest chip. Almost immediately after Intel released its latest Centrino chip, combining 802.11b with 802.11a wireless networking, Dulaney told corporate clients to give it a pass. Wait until 2004, says Dulaney, for a more flexible Centrino with 802.11g support.
IBM Boosts Wireless Chip Production: Unlike Intel, which will not get into the RFID space, IBM plans on increasing its capacity to produce the low-cost wireless chips. Itll also increase production of sensors, Bluetooth and other chips.
Sun, TI Team Up on Wireless Java Services: New partnership aims to make it cheaper to build converged voice and data devices, particularly for 2.5 and 3G based networks. Could this be the dawning of tiny hybrid devices? In other wide-area wireless news, Nokia plans on releasing compression software designed to increase network performance.
Airspan Networks Releases 802.16a Products: Although proprietary, new products from Airspan show that the new ultra-fast wireless WAN network is starting to take off. 802.16 can transfer data up to 30 miles at up to 70 megabits per second. Wow!
New WLAN Switch Prioritizes Encryption, Traffic: Legra Systems launches new wireless switch that encrypts and prioritizes multiple packets simultaneously. New product works with companys existing access points and software.
Baby Bells Accused of Anti-Trust Violations: CEOs of some of the biggest CLECs in the US asked congress to investigate possible anti-trust actions by Baby Bells.
Its the End of the Phone As We Know It: But I feel just fine, thanks! Find out why I think the merging of Wi-Fi and cellular into a single hand-set will sound the death knell for traditional POTS wired phone networks. Ten years from now, the baby bells will seem as quaint, and outdated, as buggy whips and steam-driving automobiles.