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Dell's Inspiron 1720 is one of the first products to receive Certified Wireless USB status  (Source: Dell)
Wireless USB 1.0 takes off with the announcement of six end-user products

Wireless USB is getting a big boost in viability today with the announcement of six consumer-ready products that support the standard.

According to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the Dell Inspiron 1720, D-Link DUB-1210 Wireless USB adapter, D-Link DUB-2240 4-port Wireless USB hub, IOGEAR Wireless USB Hub/Adapter and the Lenovo T61/T61p are the first to receive the USB 1.0 end-user certification.

"This is the beginning of a very exciting time for Certified Wireless USB, as the vision of a world without wires is realized. It is a great endorsement to have consumer recognized PC and CE companies be the first to incorporate Certified Wireless USB into new products,” remarked USB-IF president Jeff Ravencraft.  “This makes a huge statement that Certified Wireless USB is here. With a variety of Certified Wireless USB silicon and end-user products available, we expect to see other OEMs and ODMs follow suit in the coming months as Wireless USB continues its march to broad adoption."

"Consumers have long valued the ability to transfer personal content via USB,” said Dell's Liam Quinn. “Being one of the first to achieve Certified Wireless USB compliance on a consumer notebook platform is only the first step in driving this technology across our consumer notebook portfolio, and underscores our focus on delivering a solution that parallels the ease-of-use associated with Hi-Speed USB, only wirelessly."

Products that comply with the Wireless USB 1.0 standard will feature a "Certified Wireless USB" logo on the product packaging -- this is similar to the "Hi-Speed USB" logo featured on standard-issue USB 2.0 compliant hardware.

Wireless USB 1.0 provides data rates of up 480Mb/sec at a distance of three meters. At 10 meters, the speed drops to just 110Mb/sec.

Additional Certified Wireless USB products are expected to reach retail shelves in the coming months from companies like Alereon, Intel, NEC, Realtek and WiQuest.

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Power draw?
By therealnickdanger on 7/23/2007 4:21:31 PM , Rating: 2
Are there any tests that compare the power consumption of WUSB with BT devices? That is very impressive throughput, but at what cost?




RE: Power draw?
By drebo on 7/23/2007 4:29:15 PM , Rating: 3
I don't know, but I must admit that I do not really see the usefulness of Wireless-USB. One of my favorite portable devices is my 160gb Western Digital Passport. It's nice because it's small and is bus-powered. Now, if it were wireless-usb, sure, I wouldn't have to connect it to the computer, but now I have to carry around a power brick for it! What's the point? Personally, I like my little 1' USB A to mini-USB cable. It's just perfect in size, shape, and length. A 6' power power cable with a transformer on it, however, is not.

Or maybe I'm just missing the point of wireless-USB...


RE: Power draw?
By Parhel on 7/23/2007 4:44:09 PM , Rating: 1
I believe they plan on offering wireless USB hubs, so you should be able to connect your wired USB devices to a wireless hub which would be powered from the wall.

It could definitely simplify sharing devices such as a printer, scanner or removable hard drive. For things like a wireless USB mouse or keyboard, it would just allow you to do away with the dongle. So, it has some applications, but it isn't terribly exciting.


RE: Power draw?
By TomZ on 7/23/2007 5:16:30 PM , Rating: 3
The benefit I see is getting rid of all those darn USB cables! I've got probably 6 to 8 USB devices typically plugged into my desktop machine, which is a lot of cables. It would be nice to get rid of all that wiring junk.


RE: Power draw?
By gerf on 7/23/2007 7:58:54 PM , Rating: 2
Getting rid of cables is nice. But what kind of security is there? I don't want my apartment neighbors looking at my backups of pictures, videos, etc.


RE: Power draw?
By MobileZone on 7/24/2007 7:47:42 AM , Rating: 2
Hey, wait a minute! WUSB is a WPAN/low-transmit power class device. It's different than an AP or 802.11 card that can receive and transmit for dozens of meters.

WUSB/BT/UWB = all WPAN devices. Your neighbors hardly will intercept those signals.


RE: Power draw?
By BioHazardous on 7/23/2007 5:56:33 PM , Rating: 1
If wireless USB is going to take off, it has to have a killer application. Something everybody out there doesn't need, but would want as soon as they found out about it. The only industry out there that can help launch this clearly is the porn industry. So try to imagine a bunch of battery powered devices that connect to your computer through this wirless USB technology that are designed for the porn industry.. I'm sure collectively we can come up with some good ideas to help market it.

:)

I honestly don't see much of a point to it right now.. I've heard things about connecting to a printer with wirless USB! Why oh why aren't we connecting to that printer with just 802.11g already if wires were such a concern when making the purchasing decision to buy that printer?

It has no killer App.. It will not go anywhere.


RE: Power draw?
By TomZ on 7/23/2007 6:17:39 PM , Rating: 2
Your argument could also be applied to wireless mice and keyboards, and wireless network adapters, for that matter. The "killer app" as you say is the fact that devices are not tethered by a wired connection. That is incrementally valuable compared to a wired connection, and because of this, I think it will take off.


RE: Power draw?
By drebo on 7/23/2007 8:14:11 PM , Rating: 3
Yes, but you still need cords to plug them into a wall. Wireless USB has no power component, like Wired USB does. So even small portable hard drives would still need to be plugged into a wall. Even if you're using a wireless USB hub to gain ports, you still have a cable running to the wall. I just don't see any application for this. Perhaps you could use it for a wireless keyboard and mouse, but I'd wager latency is pretty high and that there won't be any benefits to it at all over current RF and Bluetooth keyboards. For things like printers, they still need to be plugged in, so you're not gaining anything in the way of mobility at all.

I just don't see a point to this.


RE: Power draw?
By BioHazardous on 7/24/2007 10:48:07 AM , Rating: 2
TomZ, as you pointed out, there are already wireless mice and keyboards. The only thing wireless USB has going for it is bandwidth, but the range is (to put it nicely) lacking. I also don't think I need that kind of bandwidth for a wireless keyboard or mouse. So since nobody so far has been able to point out some new application for this technology, it will have a hard time displacing the standards already in place for wireless devices. I'm just pointing out the barriers to entering this market, obviously it's not cost, it's the standards already in place, and without a real distinguishing difference between this and the other wireless technologies readily available, it will not make a dent in the current marketplace.

Just my two cents.


RE: Power draw?
By TomZ on 7/24/2007 1:54:53 PM , Rating: 2
How about wireless USB connections to printers and scanners? They both desire high-bandwidth, low-range connections, and wireless USB makes them slightly more convenient to use compared to wired USB.

I agree with you, though, that this is not exactly a "killer app," but I don't think that a killer app is needed to justify the R&D investment necessary to make this see the light of day in products. The reason is that the PC market is so huge in terms of volume and so competitive, that even a small benefit like going wireless gives enough of an advantage to justify incorporating the new technology.


RE: Power draw?
By TomZ on 7/24/2007 2:03:56 PM , Rating: 2
I also forgot to mention digital cameras and camcorders. Pretty compelling uses of WUSB there, in addition to printers and scanners. Big, bulky transfers at short range.


RE: Power draw?
By BioHazardous on 7/24/2007 5:18:22 PM , Rating: 2
I like the idea of being able to wirelessly transfer images from my camera or camcorder to my computer, but one of the big advantages of the current connections is that if I'm plugged in with USB, I get power from it as well so I don't drain the battery on my device. I would think scanners would be similar to printers and use current wireless technology rather than make people adapt to a new standard. I believe with Dell on board that might give them the leverage they need to get their wireless product integrated into the computers.. but if people have to buy a separate card for their computers that already have bluetooth and 802.11g, I don't see them going out and buying the USB Wireless devices..


RE: Power draw?
By TomZ on 7/24/2007 6:27:38 PM , Rating: 2
I don't see many (any?) scanners or printers supporting WiFi. But I agree the ability to deliver power through the USB cable is something that will be missed with WUSB for some devices like cameras. My camera, however, a Nikon D100, doesn't power over the USB cable, but I assume others do.


RE: Power draw?
By TomZ on 7/23/2007 4:48:29 PM , Rating: 2
A comparison of various wireless and wired transmission methodologies, as shown in Fig. 2, illustrates that WiMedia-based ultra-wideband [Wireless USB] is nearly three times more power efficient than even the newest version of Wi-Fi; 802.11n. This enables the new generation of Certified Wireless USB to deliver Mbit/mW performance that is significantly better than any other wired or wireless standard, except for high-speed wired USB 2.0.
http://www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage.asp?Fil...


RE: Power draw?
By Scabies on 7/23/2007 4:56:32 PM , Rating: 2
Which reminds me, wasn't there some rambling about USB networking a year or so ago? This is probably useless at distances more than a couple of meters, but for LAN parties, nubs without a gigabit card (or hosts without a gigabit router) might enjoy this.


RE: Power draw?
By TomZ on 7/23/2007 5:13:35 PM , Rating: 2
The distance is a limiting factor, as you mention. But the other problem that I see with this use case is that WUSB is still host-initiated, like USB is, and is not peer-to-peer. That limits its usefulness for direct computer-to-computer links, AFAIK.

I think that WUSB is being pushed as basically a USB hub replacement, i.e., to connect a set of physically-close devices to a computer.


RE: Power draw?
By subhajit on 7/24/2007 2:22:13 AM , Rating: 2
I think you can setup direct pc to pc connection using USB.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/814982


RE: Power draw?
By TomZ on 7/24/2007 2:33:14 AM , Rating: 2
There's a chip in the blob in the middle of the cable that makes each computer appear as a device to the other computer. You could probably do the same with WUSB, but it might require a small device to do that.


RE: Power draw?
By Oregonian2 on 7/23/2007 4:50:52 PM , Rating: 2
The D-Link DUB-1210 is said to be coming out for $120 according to reports (wireless adapter).

Seems to be a spendy wifi replacement with the networking missing. Something like being a high-end spendier bluetooth.

Might have a niche, but would have to get a LOT cheaper to replace $1 USB cables for connection to devices that sit next to the computer (and/or they have to add networking so a network accessible printer can be used effectively like one does with one or more "shared" printer(s) on one's home computer network).


Security
By Sahrin on 7/23/2007 4:20:05 PM , Rating: 2
What is the strength of security for this standard?

Nightmare Scenario: I am a writer and a business analyst. Someone could take a 20 dollar 4GB W-USB memory stick and take my entire life's work (In writing) and about 1% of my Business Analysis work with a Wireless device such as this, and never come close to my computer. Or media collection (though admittedly, it would be difficult to download all of that <s>pr0n</s> nature documentaris onto a memory stick of any size. Like those poor kids with the OLPC.

It better be damn strong.




RE: Security
By TomZ on 7/23/2007 4:51:12 PM , Rating: 2
Security and Device Association
Wireless USB security will be designed to deliver the same level of security as wired USB. Connection-level security between devices, for instance, will be designed to ensure a device is associated and authenticated before operation of the device is permitted. Higher levels of security involving encryption will be implemented at the application level.
http://www.usb.org/developers/wusb/docs/wirelessUS... (see p.8)


RE: Security
By defter on 7/24/2007 5:00:40 AM , Rating: 2
Which means that basically, there is no security. You have to use separate encryption on the application level.

"Same sevel of security as wired USB" is marketing BS, since you can't eavesdrop traffic from wired USB cable from 10 meters away.


RE: Security
By TomZ on 7/24/2007 2:01:35 PM , Rating: 2
No, that's not correct. The first sentence specifies that there is security:

Connection-level security between devices, for instance, will be designed to ensure a device is associated and authenticated before operation of the device is permitted.

As you say, the second sentence goes on to say basically that if encryption of the data stream is required, that it could be designed in at a higher level.

Almost all uses of this technology only require connection-level security (same as Bluetooth). But for the very small fraction that do require higher security, device manufacturers are free to implement that for a particular device, but they didn't want to burden all devices with having to implement this level of security.


RE: Security
By nayy on 7/23/2007 6:59:47 PM , Rating: 2
If I remember correctly devices have to be paired before they can work together, there are two ways to pair them, with an usb cable which is useful for charging too, or via pin included with the device, like bluetooth headsets.
There is always the chance of eavesdropping, for this there is the encryption and distance, Ultrawideband signals are usually blocked by solid objects and a 10 meters distance in an open space could be a problem but if you are close to the device you’ll be working a high-speed, a regular device place farther away would lose a lot of data due to the distance/speed relation.


An Apple a day...
By Seymourbbuts on 7/23/2007 8:28:04 PM , Rating: 2
If Apple makes a WUSB enabled iPod, then they will sell millions of these hubs.




By robrbecker on 7/24/2007 10:42:05 AM , Rating: 2
You may have heard of the prototype desk that powers devices wirelessly when you lay them on it. WUSB makes A LOT more sense when you can just lay your digital camera, cell phone, mobile hard drive, etc on your desk and it is powered and accessible via WUSB. I would actually use a WUSB mouse with wireless power since I wouldn't have to keep replacing batteries.




First
By MobileZone on 7/23/07, Rating: -1
RE: First
By MobileZone on 7/23/07, Rating: -1
"I'm an Internet expert too. It's all right to wire the industrial zone only, but there are many problems if other regions of the North are wired." -- North Korean Supreme Commander Kim Jong-il











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