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FireWire Gets Ready to Go Wireless

Posted by timothy on from the anthropomorphic dept.

mindless4210 writes "The 1394 Trade Association has approved a specification for the development of wireless FireWire applications, which will let 1394-enabled devices, both wired and unwired, to connect with each other. The new spec will enable communication between a variety of devices, such as set-top boxes, HDTVs, tuners, and DVD players, all of which will be able to interoperate in home networks. Officials speculated that in the future there could be plug-in cards for set-top boxes enabling wireless connection to DVD players and hard-disk drives. The trade association also said it will work with the WiMedia Alliance to jointly develop collaborative products."

10 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. A future without cables and wires by Infonaut · · Score: 4, Insightful
    While it's a ways off, and there are glitches (Bluetooth security concerns, etc.), I for one will be happy as hell when I can go behind my entertainment center and not have to spend 15 minutes untangling cords and cables just to move something. Ditto for the computer setup. Imagine a truly wireless office, where nothing (keyboard, external monitor, network) is connected by wires or cables. Sure, there are some folks who will doubtless brag about how they already have such a setup, but I'm talking about widespread adoption.

    Extending FireWire is one piece of the puzzle, and I for one am anxious to see the products that will result.

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    1. Re:A future without cables and wires by mhesseltine · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I for one will be happy as hell when I can go behind my entertainment center and not have to spend 15 minutes untangling cords and cables just to move something. Ditto for the computer setup. Imagine a truly wireless office, where nothing (keyboard, external monitor, network) is connected by wires or cables.

      As others have mentioned, that's a great vision for signal cables. However, all of those devices still need a power supply of some sort. So, either you

      1. Have a universal battery pack/charger and run all those things off battery power
      2. Implement solar cells and let them store/use power from radiated light in the room
      3. Setup a Tesla coil and have wireless power
      4. Build the products with fuel cells that can be run from butane/propane/etc. and keep them filled.
      5. or
      6. Some other, as of yet undiscovered, power source.

      I agree, I'd love to be able to move my computer stuff around without worrying about pulling the speaker/monitor/mouse/keyboard/network/etc. cables. However, until power is taken care of, you're still going to have one cable for each appliance.

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  2. WiFi? by thedillybar · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Why so many wireless protocols/systems?

    Can't we refine one and use it for all these different applications? Or are these different protocols content-specific? (i.e. some protocols are good with video, others are better with raw data?) I haven't seen anything showing this.

    1. Re:WiFi? by Short+Circuit · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why is it good for us? Think competition.

      USB2 wouldn't have come so soon if FireWire wasn't around. And FireWire 800 wouldn't be here if USB2 hadn't shown up.

      Next, we're going to see competition between FireWireless and 802.11. Expect furthur improvements.

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  3. Worthless by macbot3000 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Since the MPAA and RIAA will ensure that no hardware will ship that can transmit content to anything else.

    Maybe it will be useful for high speed channel changing.

  4. Can't they all just get along? by jshindl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why are there two standards that seemingly do the same thing? Firewire and USB are both industry standards, yet they seemingly are designed to connect peripherals to PCs. They both do a great job, but it doesn't make sense to have two competeing industry standards. After all, the point of a "standard" is to get everyone on board. Time for everyone to start working together! :)

    1. Re:Can't they all just get along? by updog · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I don't understand why people complain so loudly about having a choice. Competition is good, folks! Get several protocols out there in the market, and let the best one win (hopefully).

      Sure, the market might fragment initially, but at least the better standard stands some kind of chance to gain dominance. Imagine if everyone settled on FireWire for the high-speed peripheral bus, and USB never got a chance? We wouldn't have the benifits of USB, namely bus-powered devices, lower cost, support for many devices on the same bus; and then much later, high-speed USB which can finally compete with FireWire regarding bandwidth.

    2. Re:Can't they all just get along? by pHDNgell · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Imagine if everyone settled on FireWire for the high-speed peripheral bus, and USB never got a chance? We wouldn't have the benifits of USB, namely bus-powered devices, lower cost, support for many devices on the same bus; and then much later, high-speed USB which can finally compete with FireWire regarding bandwidth.

      This makes no sense. One of the benefits of USB is bus-powered devices? Like my iPod?

      Lower cost? What makes USB lower cost than firewire (cost != price)?

      Many devices on the same bus? Like my video camera being controlled by my powerbook as it spools video off onto an external disk (or two)?

      High-speed USB that's theoretically similar in speed to firewire being developed while the new firewire standards were being developed is a benefit? That makes the latest USB (theoretically) a little more than half the speed of the latest firewire.

      I mean, I'm all for competition and stuff, but USB never seemed to be in the same space as firewire.

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  5. Firewire with no wires = no power. by Anubis333 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One of the great things about firewire is that it can power devices.. I guess this is no longer the case. Time to break out the ol ac adapter with your new 'firewireless' adapter. Not to mention, any device I can think of would need a PS, or are they going to release external HDs with giant batteries now?

  6. Indeed! by grepistan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Merely lacking wires doesn't automatically make everything magically easy to configure... in fact in some ways having wires leading from device to device actually helps configuration in many ways, and especially helps with troubleshooting.

    I can't really see the average non-VCR-programming type being able to easily set up any more than about 3 wireless devices. Hell, I can program my VCR but it takes half an hour to get my TV, PS2, stereo, VCR and DVD player set up together...

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