Goodbye Bluetooth: Wi-Fi Between Devices Coming This Fall

By fall-2010, you could be transferring files, making phone calls, and printing your pictures from your camera, all without wires. That’s because Wi-Fi connections about to get a big upgrade that will allow millions of devices to talk directly to one another through the popular wireless standard.The Wi-Fi Alliance, the trade group governing Wi-Fi, has announced a new specification: Wi-Fi Direct, formerly Wi-Fi peer-to-peer. Any device certified as Wi-Fi Direct will be able to communicate with each other directly, without the need for a wireless hub. Watch out, Bluetooth – you’ve got some big competition now.

The new standard will be available in fall-2010, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance. It should be available as a software upgrade for older products and included in newer Wi-Fi devices.
The potential impact of this new Wi-Fi standard could be far-reaching. Not only will devices be able to “speak” to each other, reducing or even eliminating the need for wireless hubs, but this could be what makes cell phone and gadget makers add Wi-Fi to their own devices. Imagine being able to send videos straight to your TV from your computer or sending instructions from your netbook to your favorite gadgets.

Get your imagination revving, because Wi-Fi Direct looks to be a huge shift in not only wireless technology, but how we will use our gadgets, computers, and phones into the future.

Wi-Fi Direct from Blake Robinson on Vimeo.