Report: Mesh networks to be worth $1 billion

We've been accused of belittling
ZigBee in the past, mainly
because, well, it's pretty easy to mock a networking standard with a name that sounds like it should be a Disney
character. But the fact is that mesh
networks — of which ZigBee is the most common standard — are becoming a big and viable business, and are
expected to be worth $1 billion within a few years. For anyone who needs a cheat sheet on mesh networks and
ZigBee, the San Francisco Chronicle has published a good one. In addition to laying out the current and future
uses for ZigBee — including everything from environmental controls (like the
AirBee thermostat, shown) to networked battlefield
spybots — the article has good info about some of the leading mesh companies, including Dust Networks, which has
its own non-ZigBee technology. Oh, and for the record, ZigBee got its name from the metaphor of honeybees
zig-zagging around to alert other members of their hive about nectar. Hey, at least it's not named after a
medieval monarch with bad dental
hygiene.

[Via the Wireless Weblog]