Intel in a quick blurb has said it would expand Wireless Display (WiDi) soon, most likely at CES. Along with computers and TV adapters, it was also coming to game consoles, projectors, fully integrated TVs, and "other devices." Several chip designers were involved, such as Cavium, Mstar Semiconductor, Sigma Designs, Realtek, and Wondermedia.
IFixIt has torn down the Series 5 3G ChromeBook and revealed the hardware underneath its skin. All that was required for the teardown was a spudger, a plastic opening tool and a Philips #1 screwdriver. The notebook is also slimmer than the original ChromeBook, the Google Cr-48. It also houses a more competent Atom N455 processor with 512K more of L2 cache compared to the 1.66GHz Atom N570.
The Wi-Fi Alliance today started certifying devices to use Wi-Fi Direct, its new standard for creating point-to-point links. The standard builds on the basic concept behind Bluetooth and lets a Wi-Fi device pair directly with another without having to first join a local network. The method makes it possible to share media from a phone, play multiplayer games or otherwise communicate directly, even when no router exists
Healthy netbook sales in China, India and other emerging markets for Realtek Semiconductor have the networking IC designer increasing its 802.11n Wi-Fi chip orders, spurring a shortage manufacturers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), according to a report in the Taiwan-area Commercial Times newspaper. Realtek has reportedly ordered one fifth more Wi-Fi chips in March than in February, and the shortage will last until June, according to a Chinese Commerical Times story. More than 8,000 Wi-Fi chip orders will be ordered in the second quarter.
A company that focused on developing a wireless HDMI technology and standard, TZero, is out of business, a Thursday EETimes post notes. The company has been developing wireless HDMI technology using ultra-wideband (UWB) but has been forced to close prematurely by the poor market conditions that began last year. TZero joins Intel and others that have stopped their own in-house development of UWB.
Japan's Ratoc Systems has recently shown off its certified wireless USB starter kit, the REX-WUSB1. The system is designed for use with notebooks equipped with a PC Card slot and includes a three-port wireless USB hub that can also be wired. The kit is compatible with Windows XP or Vista PCs after the included drivers are installed.
A teardown of Apple's new aluminum MacBook and MacBook Pro systems reveals a "beautiful" layout, according to iFixit. Both computers are said to have extremely well-arranged interiors, which in the case of the Pro is said to be "cleaner" and with much better flow than previous versions. Regarding the basic MacBook, iFixit claims that Apple may be right to promote the workers involved in its new manufacturing process.
ASUS and Realtek on Friday said they would team up to introduce a computer display based on Wireless USB. Using a built-in Wireless USB adapter, a future ASUS display line will connect to a host computer without using any cables or requiring special setup; like most wired USB displays, the screen will automatically configure itself and make adding one or more displays largely a matter of plugging in the display's power cable.
