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Samsung's tiny 120Mbps Wireless USB chipset ready for Q2 launch
Today things are a bit more clear as to why Intel abandoned its own Ultra Wide-Band efforts in favor of off-the-shelf solutions: Samsung just announced its ultra-fast Wireless USB chipset. Samsung's tiny 8 x 8-mm (0.31 x 0.31-inch) chip operates in the traditional 3.1 ~ 10.6GHz Certified Wireless USB space and delivers a relatively blistering 120Mbps data transfer rate (measured, not theoretical) compared to the 50Mbps achieved by current solutions -- that's a single ripped 700MB film transferred in about a minute from a range of about 3 meters. It also features 128-bit AES encryption and other security mechanisms meant to safeguard your data during transmission. The SystemOnChip design consumes 300mW of power and brings a built-in ARM core, UWB (ultra wide-band) physical layer, and memory controller while interfacing with SD cards, MMC, NAND, and USB 2.0 without any additional circuitry. In other words, expect to see Samsung's Wireless USB in digital cameras, MP3 player, speakers and more when these chips hit mass production in Q2. It's worth noting that Samsung is a member of the Wireless USB Promoter Group that pushes the "Certified Wireless USB" standard. However, with Wireless USB start-up WiQuest out of the picture and zero references made to the standard or use of the group's logo, this might very well be a proprietary grab at the short-range wireless space that has received very little interest from vendors to date. We'll find out more more when Samsung presents its WUSB solution for the first time at Mobile World Congress next week.[Via Samsung Korea]
Y-E Data's YD-300 WUSB-HUB: Japan's first wireless USB hub
A full six months after announcing it, Y-E Data is ready to ship their YD-300 wireless USB hub. While this hub reportedly packs the same (or at least similar) Multiband OFDM radio from Wisair we've already seen in the Belkin Cable-Free USB hub, we don't see a "Certified Wireless USB" sticker anywhere... so who knows. While they promise up to 480Mbps at distances of up to 10-meters, in practice however, this drops to a paltry 30Mbps (max!) and even that degrades significantly over just a few meters. You can forget HD streaming since there's no support for isochronous data, quality of service, or medium bandwidth reservation to ensure data arrives in time. But hey, it makes a fine ¥39,800 ($338) solution for moving your keyboard a bit further away from the monitor.[Via Impress] Read -- Impress review Read -- product page
