Tuesday, 7 October 2008

USB to Initially Dominate Wireless Home Office

After a long wait, the first stage of what will become the “wireless home office” is arriving with some home office UWB (ultra-wideband) products hitting retailers’ shelves now, and more expected by the end of the year, says ABI Research.

According to the market research firm which focuses on the impact of emerging technologies on global consumer and business markets, the first major market application for UWB will be in the wireless USB category-- utilizing wireless USB embedded in devices such as laptop computers, wireless docking stations for those computers, and wireless external hard drives.

“The wireless USB docking station seems to be hitting a sweet spot,” says Douglas McEuen, senior analyst, ABI Research.

“A number of the more capable laptop models now include native wireless USB. This represents an important step towards creation of the true wireless home office.”

According to ABI, Dell and Lenovo are leaders in UWB-enabled laptops; wireless USB docking stations are available from Kensington and Toshiba, and Imation is expected to release a wireless USB external hard disk drive range by year’s end.

Wireless USB products will be more expensive than their wired predecessors, but McEuen feels that as production efficiencies evolve, the differential will soon shrink to the point that wireless solutions are competitive on both price and capabilities.

“This generation of products comes closer to achieving the data rates that UWB was hyped as offering…and this is the first true opportunity for consumers to get their hands on UWB products and see them in action,” noted McEuen.