Wi-Fi Alliance Announces Wi-Fi Direct Spec [PC World]
Is the Bluetooth standard days numbered? Last week, the Wi-Fi Alliance, the group that is responsible for setting and approving the 802.11 wireless fidelity standards and certifies devices are compatible with those standards announced plans for a new device-to-device wi-fi standard. Dubbed Wi-Fi Direct, the new standard would make it much easier to connect two wi-fi devices to each other without the need for a wi-fi router.
Right now, to connect a wi-fi enabled printer to a mobile computer with wi-fi, it's very difficult without a wi-fi hot spot created by a wireless router. I'm very excited to learn of this development as I connect my printer to our home computers through my wireless router and, I have to admit, the connection can be so finicky that it drives my wife crazy. A few devices can be connected with the Bluetooth standard, but wi-fi is much more common in many computer peripherals than Bluetooth. With Wi-Fi Direct, connecting two devices in an "ad-hoc" network - without a router - will become much easier. Best of all, there's no need to upgrade existing wi-fi devices. The Wi-Fi Alliance plans for the new standard to be available for existing wi-fi enabled devices via a firmware update.
Michael... how about adding the popular NASA TV channel? It's available OTA via satellite... but I think Insight should carry it as well. (It's available in HD as well!)
Posted by: Cody | Monday, October 19, 2009 at 08:26 PM