Universal Device-to-device wireless breakthrough announced by Wi-Fi Alliance

Cables to connect devices may soon become a thing of the past, suggests an announcement Wednesday by the international body governing Wi-Fi.

Cameras, printers, laptops, projectors, video-game consoles, music players — virtually any device capable of a wireless connection — will be soon able to interact without cables or a wireless Internet connection thanks to a new specification being introduced by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Calling the development “groundbreaking,” Wi-Fi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa said the upcoming specification will eventually spawn a new breed of innovative, and currently unimagined, uses for wireless technology.

“There’s demand out there. We feel that this device-to-device Wi-Fi will enable countless applications,” he told Canwest News Service. “I think people are going to get very innovative with this.”

In the short term, however, it will mean connecting devices, such as a digital camera to a printer, will be remarkably easier.

For example, during a recent demonstration of the technology in China, a Wi-Fi projector was set up.

“People in the audience took pictures with their cellphones and sent them to the projector,” said Figueroa.

Other obvious applications include file sharing and printing, he said, adding wireless keyboards have also emerged as an early application of the technology.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, which serves as the gold standard of wireless service and actually owns the Wi-Fi trademark, expects to have the new specification finished by the end of the year and will begin certification programs in early 2010, he said.

Products that achieve the certification will be designated: “Wi-Fi Certified Wi-Fi Direct.”

Devices will be able to make a one-to-one connection, or a group of several devices will be able to connect simultaneously.

“Wi-Fi Direct represents a leap forward for our industry,” said Figueroa. “Wi-Fi users worldwide will benefit from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications quickly and easily among devices, even when a Wi-Fi access point isn’t available. The impact is that Wi-Fi will become even more pervasive and useful for consumers and across the enterprise.”

Gadgets that support the new specification will be able to “discover” each other and “advertise” their capability to connect, he said. – Ottawacitizen

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