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TransferJet Consortium Works Towards Touch Data Transfer Tech
Iddo Genuth writes to tell us that many of the large tech companies have banded together in order to develop TransferJet technology. Discussed earlier this year, TransferJet promises to allow rapid data transfer between devices in close proximity. "The group of companies involved in the development of TransferJet has been tagged the 'TransferJet Consortium' and includes many industry giants such as Sony, Canon, Kodak, Nikon, Pioneer, Toshiba, Samsung and many others. The companies intend to market a broad array of products and services incorporating TransferJet technology with the intention of increasing its usage through the consumer electronics industry. With this new technology, there will be no need for access points or complex data transfer setups. By touching the two devices together, intuitive operation will kick in and the files will be transferred automatically."
A short 3cm transmission distance minimizes any risks of data theft.
I do hope there's a bit more to it than that. There are all sorts of situations in which someone could bring a hostile device within 3cm of (say) a mobile phone without being noticed. For a start, consider a commuter train during rush hour.
http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2008/07/22/sony-and-company-introduce-transferjet/
"I thought Sir Howard was supposed to put an end to this type of thing. Apparently not, as Sony is back with another proprietary technology. Making it worse, they are offering up a wireless technology to transfer video and image wirelessly, a market where there are seemingly PLENTY of standardized technologies to do just this. Sure, theyâ(TM)ve pushed a consortium around TransferJet [PR], at least giving this effort the appearance of an industry-wide effort, but in the end this looks and feels like classic Sony pushing an internally developed technology as a solution where there already is one."
... is the cry every time I see the phrase "close proximity". Is there any other kind of proximity?
No mod points, no meta-moderating/Firehose/all the other free work Slashdot wants me to do.
IRdA is slow as hell.
This will be much faster, and secure, assuming they can find a way for radio waves to travel 3 cm and then stop themselves.
Of course, a towel provides effective IRdA security.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
This is really what the technology is about. You'll still need to buy another round of cables to connect your mobile devices to your PC. At a predicted cost of $40-50, this is exactly like the cellphone charger dilemma. This is what it's about.