Well, it's increasingly starting to look like the reports of Wireless USB's demise may have been at least slightly exaggerated, as Italy's Olidata has now followed Cables Unlimited's lead in releasing a Wireless USB adapter set based on Wisair's WSR601 single-chip solution. Like the Cables Unlimited set, the Olidata combo includes one adapter that plugs into your printer or other device and one that plugs into your laptop or desktop computer, which magically work together to let the two communicate with each other as if they were actually connected -- you can also plug the dongle into any old USB hub and instantly have a Wireless USB hub. Of course, with WiQuest now out of the picture, it's still far from a sure thing that Wireless USB will be around for the long haul, but those looking to get in on the standard while the going's good can apparently pick up Olidata's set in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and the U.K now for €59, or roughly $75.

Wireless USB might be heading toward the cemetery, but that doesn't mean it has expired just yet. With WUSB startup WiQuest calling it quits, the window of opportunity is wide open for rival Wisair. If you'll recall, one of the biggest hurdles WiQuest never could overcome was generating an energy-efficient one-chip solution; lo and behold, Wisair has done just that. We can't say with any level of certainty that this Wireless USB Adapter Kit contains the module we saw hit the FCC nearly a year ago, but regardless, the new set enables non-WUSB-enabled devices to still enjoy the spoils of cordless USB transfers. The $79 to $99 set contains a pair of dongles -- one for the computer, one for the device -- and the company is already planning to sell 'em individually so you can make every last USB device you own a cable-free one. Can Wisair single-handedly revive the flagging technology? Let's kick back and see, shall we?

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

Despite the WiFi, IR, Bluetooth and USB connections we already have to our phone, not to mention 3G or 2.5G in-phone connections to the internets, it always seems a bit of a chore to pull the pictures off our camphone. So what do we need? Another connection of course! Wisair and Nokia are teaming up to show off WUSB at 3GSM, with a Wisair 542 chip embedded in a Nokia Nseries cameraphone to send images and video to a laptop. We're guessing Nokia isn't about to get into the business of retrofitting its phones with new radios, so perhaps Nokia is planning some new models before too long with the chip built-in, or perhaps Wisair will at least have some ready-to-go products of the WUSB variety -- we're getting a little tired of all this talk and no action.

[Via Everything USB]

Wisair just announced a new ultra-wideband (UWB) hub reference design (read: available to OEMs, not you) capable of 480Mbps data rates at a distance of 100 feet, wirelessly. That's a pretty big leap over the current 30 foot max reached by their first gen design. The 4-port USB 2.0 hub is based on the WiMedia UWB radio platform and is destined to appear in existing, wired USB hub cases to free laptops (with accompanying USB dongle) from desktop peripherals or reduce desktop clutter for workstations. With any luck someone might pick this up and properly bring it to market someday soon. Anyone listening, D-Link, Belkin, IOGEAR, the Republic of China?

[Via TGDaily]