Recently both Apple and Lenovo introduced some very thin laptops; the MacBook Air and the Lenovo x300. The MacBook Air is a very elegant looking machine. Very sleek. To make it really sleek, Apple dropped all external connectors from the edge of the product, with the exception of one USB port hidden under a flap. The design is very attractive and light weight. However, it presents a problem: to connect to various USB peripherals you need to purchase a seven port USB hub then hope that the hub has decent enough throughput for an external USB hard drive, a printer, your iPod, your phone connection, your digital camera cable and more. Of course Apple thinks you will purchase their Apple Time Capsule, which is a wireless WiFi HDD with a USB ports out the back. The problem with Time Capsule is that like any WiFi technology, it has to use USB spoofing techniques to connect to wired USB. Unlike Wireless USB technology, which is designed to be backwards compatible, WiFi is designed for wireless LAN access. As a result, very few printers and most PC Peripherals won’t connect to the MacBook Air. So, an otherwise very elegant product requires some true compromises, like having a gaggle of USB cables hanging off a giant hub linked to their slim new machine.

Now envision what the next MacBook Air would offer if it included Wireless USB as a standard feature. You could put a wireless port replicator on the far side of your desk, out of sight, hiding the clutter of cables. To it you could connect virtually any printer, scanner, USB HDD or USB optical writer, an iPod, digital camera and more. Interestingly, if you really wanted to go for it, you could connect a wireless keyboard/mouse, add an Ethernet port or even support a 2nd LCD monitor with which you could have elegance, portability, and the convenience of a 22” monitor when you were at the desk. Now that is convenience.

With high throughput PCI Express Wireless USB chips from Alereon now entering the market that will support high-speed Bluetooth  in the future and are capable of shipping to any country now, perhaps Apple will take a look at the convenience that UWB powered Wireless USB has to offer their customers. Apple has always been the “fashion leader”, and Wireless USB is one way to keep the streak going as we forge ahead into a Life Without Wires™.

For an interesting diversion on the Lenovo x300 vs. the MacBook Air check out this video.  I think it says it all.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 11:00 am and is filed under General, Wireless USB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.