WiFi turns into must-have, everyday technology

WiFi has made significant strides in 2004 to make it a must-have, says BusinessWeek. As new applications and devices proliferate, wireless broadband will become a necessity for businesses and ordinary folks alike. "No doubt about it," says the magazine's analyst, "this will be the year WiFi goes from a novelty to a standard feature in many types of devices. It's not a stretch to say this hot wireless technology will become a must-have for service companies, from big restaurants to garbage collectors."

The reasons for this are numerous. Improvements in technology have made WiFi faster and reasonably secure from hackers. It is also more affordable as prices for WiFi chips for laptops have declined 50 percent in the past two years. In 2005, another draw-back of WiFi will be resolved as the power consumption of WiFi devices will decline. This will result in further expansion of WiFi hotspots beyond the 100,000 mark in the US and will also facilitate the incorporation of WiFi into more and more new business and consumer applications and devices.

Consumer-electronics makers are already putting WiFi into cameras, portable music players, and TVs. We will soon see moving music files from portable MP3 players to TVs, or creating interactive photo slide shows. By mid-2005, all major cell-phone makers will roll out WiFi-enabled devices. In short, "WiFi enables lots of people to produce crazy applications," says Louis Mamakos, chief technology officer at service provider Vonage. He would know, too.

For more on WiFi as an everyday technology:
- see BusinessWeek's report