bruceb news

Intel, Dell, and a host of others are rolling out notebook computers based on Intel’s Centrino chip set on Wednesday. Intel is also set to launch a massive advertising campaign to promote Centrino and establish it as a brand name.

Intel is betting that wireless technology will be huge and that it will fuel a demand for portable devices. Centrino-based notebooks will have built-in wireless capability, and battery life is projected to be 5-8 hours – a huge improvement.

Here’s an article about Centrino and the product rollout.

The story of the moment is the explosive growth of wireless technology. Prices are plummeting on 802.11b technology and the equipment is being gobbled up for use in homes and small businesses. (Large companies are going more slowly because they have different concerns about security and management.)

Here’s a New York Times article about the wireless boom. A number of companies are trying to roll out wireless access in public places (Starbucks, airports, hotels). Some major players – AT&T, IBM, Intel – announced a startup company a few days ago that plans to roll out nationwide access using the same technology, similar to cell phone service. […] continued

The wireless world is coming up faster than you realize. The equipment is getting cheaper and easier to set up. Microsoft announced it is going to manufacture home wireless networking equipment that will be cheap, secure, and ridiculously easy to set up. Wireless standards are settling down and devices are starting to flood the market.

This article is mostly about new support for Bluetooth in Windows XP, but it poses an interesting possibility that can be realized within the next couple of years. Imagine a computer that has no wires whatsoever except a power cable plugged into the wall. It’s almost possible now, and it will be trivially easy soon. […] continued

Wireless technology will explode this year. By Christmas the stores will be full of wireless accessories for computers and home networking, as well as specialized devices that use a wireless connection to a computer or another device to do something interesting. The standards are solid, the prices are coming down, and manufacturers are finalizing products left and right.

I was full of optimism when I went today to set up a simple wireless home network. Two computers, a broadband connection, a Linksys wireless access point and PCI cards (with latest drivers and firmware) – all straightforward, all easy to set up. […] continued