Slashdot Mirror
Bluetooth Gets a Speed Boost
Tom Keating writes to tell us that the Bluetooth SIG has announced the adoption of WiMedia's version of ultra-wideband technology for integration into current Bluetooth technology. This move hopes to push the popularity of Bluetooth by providing a new high speed option that can transmit high quality sound and video. WiMedia also has a copy of the announcement [PDF] on their site with a few additional details.
UWB has signal range like wireless - in the tens to hundreds of feet. Easily across the house. Freescale have demonstrated the OTHER UWB standard (UWB Forum) streaming MPEG2 video from one device (a home theater box) to a UWB TV. It was really quite neat.
e rWirelessUWLCDTV.php
:) won't be too hard for them.
http://www.audioholics.com/news/pressreleases/Hai
Hopefully adopting the WiMedia version and using Bluetooth as the remote control method of choice (why not control your TV and media center from your mobile phone, even?
the point of bluetooth is to be LOW POWER so it can be REALLY SMALL and you can't have video capable bandwidth in a micropowered device.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
UWB: 480mbps WiFi: 54mbps (well, I guess you can get the hybrid 108mbps) UWB: Short range WiFi: Medium range Totally different uses. Think of it this way. All of those cables connecting your TV and other video/audio components together, can go away with UWB. HD quality connections, wirelessly. Can't do that with WiFi. -dave
/., where "Apple and Google provide Iran with nukes" will be refuted with "But Microsoft is a convicted monopolist"
Err.. I wouldnt rely on a technology like this for telling you where other road users are:
1) most people would not have such a device unless it was made compulsory to have one on your car
2) it could break, and then you'd be screwed
3) if you're in a city, you should pretty much always slow down at blind corners.. even if it's at night and you can see other vehicle's headlights, what about pedestrians? And besides that, would you want someone being able to track your bike going around town, making it even easier to steal? By bike I assumed you meant motorbike for some reason, mine was stolen a couple of years ago, and I've also had a pushbike stolen. They're really easy targets - I wouldnt want to make things any easier for people.
which is totally what she said
Another thing to keep in mind is that higher speed doesn't always mean more battery consumption. Compared to Bluetooth 1.2, Bluetooth 2.0's higher data rate means a shorter time where you have to have the transmitter powered on and therefore an overall power savings.
That's just being ignorant.
In 1951 Remington Rand was selling UNIVAC1 computers to the government. The thing could do about 1,900 operations per second and had I think about 72kilobits of ram.
It drew 125 Kwatts of electricity.
The laptop sitting in front of me now is about 300,000 times faster and draws 25 watts during peak usage.
What on earth makes you think that just becuase something is faster/better, it therefore must (by some magical law of physics I'm sure) draw more power?
With advances in chip fabrication alone, it is possible to massively reduce power usage. Not to mention any progress they make in the actual protocol being used by the system that may reduce transmission.
Also, you seem to be mistaken on the work the chip actually does. It is not processing any audio or video streams, it could care less if it was transmitting HD video or text, it'd just passing on the packets.
Big ones, small ones, some as big as yer 'ead!
Give 'em a twist, a flick o' the wrist...