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Cheap Wireless for Accessories

Posted by michael on from the wires-are-so-last-century dept.

morcheeba writes "Yet another wireless protocol for personal computers! In addition to existing 802.11 variants, bluetooth, and ultra-low-power newcomer zigbee, Cypress semiconductor is releasing a simple low latency, low cost (<$2), medium speed (200kbit/sec) protocol with USB human interface devices (HID) compatibility. Partners include Saitek (game controllers) and NMB (keyboards & mice). EETimes has an informative article."

1 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Low cost? by mccalli · · Score: 4, Interesting
    And how much does a Bluetooth cost nowadays? $100? $200? That's absurd.

    If you're talking about buying some PC dongle at retail, then perhaps. But not the Bluetooth chipset.

    I use Bluetooth every day - I send SMS messages via my bluetooth-equipped Nokia 3650 by selecting a contact's name on my Powerbook and typing the message there. I also send pictures that I've taken with the phone over to the laptop, and synchronise address book changes. It works very well, and my phone certainly didn't cost me $200.

    Buying add-ons is always expensive. As the functionality makes its way into the chipset of standard boards then you'll see the computer side of things come down in cost. I know that all Apple laptops have bluetooth - I think that the new Centrino sets do too, don't they? Confirmation from a Centrino owner please?

    Cheers,
    Ian