FireWire Gets Ready to Go Wireless

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."

Comments

A future without cables and wires

[Infonaut]

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.

Re:A future without cables and wires

[mhesseltine]

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.

Firewire with no wires = no power.

[Anubis333]

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?