OTHER TECH

What's Next for Wireless Four years after Apple chairman Steve Jobs rocked the world by introducing an iBook laptop computer that communicated without wires, wireless networks are everywhere. Today, Wi-Fi technology is as ubiquitous as Starbucks, found in homes, airports, parks, and even Starbucks itself. To paraphrase hippie guru Timothy Leary, today's PC users are wirelessly turning on and tuning in, without experiencing many dropouts.

But wireless isn't just for PCs anymore. The technology's next big move - and perhaps its biggest challenge - is home entertainment. In 2003, manufacturers introduced home-network media receivers - devices that let you transfer music and still images from a PC to your TV and A/V system, without wires. "This is the killer app that home-networking stakeholders have been waiting for," according to Ryan Jones, a senior analyst for the Yankee Group. "This will drive the use of home networks."

A number of products are already available that allow you to wirelessly connect your PC to an A/V system and TV for playing back audio files, still images, and computer games. And users of Microsoft's Xbox can now buy a $139 adapter to wirelessly connect their console to a PC for access to high-speed multiplayer games.

Early next year, Philips will introduce the Streamium MX6000i (shown below), a six-piece home theater system featuring wireless Internet and PC access that will cost about $1,000. Like a traditional home theater in a box, the Streamium will play DVDs through its five-disc progressive-scan changer, but it will also receive streaming Internet radio services. And you'll be able to wirelessly transmit MP3 files as well as still images from your PC for playback and display through an A/V system.

The availability of wireless audio products is expanding, but the number of devices that can transmit video without using wires can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

That's certainly not for lack of interest. Many of the top consumer-electronics companies are anxious to perfect the ability to transmit digital video wirelessly, and some have already demonstrated an ability to do so. But a lack of sufficient bandwidth and interference from home appliances like microwave ovens and wireless phones can cause both standard- and high-definition digital pictures to break up. Those problems, plus the added cost of incorporating wireless technology, have slowed the rollout of a wireless TV in the U.S.

At the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show last January, Toshiba showed several LCD sets receiving wireless transmissions of digital signals. Attendees loved them, according to Scott Ramirez, a marketing VP for Toshiba America. But the picture quality was occasionally and unpredictably degraded by competing transmissions. And in this case, the price wasn't right. "People told us they were willing to pay $300 to $500 over the price of a regular TV, but that's less than wireless currently costs," Ramirez said.

In Japan, both Sony and Toshiba sell wireless TVs. With Toshiba's, you can place the receiver in one room and the display in another, and control both by remote. Sony offers a Wega model HDTV that lets the viewer wirelessly send an image to the set's remote control, which is equipped with a small video screen so it doubles as a mini TV. Walk to another room, and you can take the TV show with you.

Neither company has short-term plans to sell those models, or any other wireless TV, in the U.S. "Broadband infrastructure and wireless standards are much more advanced in Japan," said Rick Clancy, a Sony Electronics senior vice president. "Wireless has to grow much more here before we can offer such devices."

Sharp Electronics says it has solved the quality problem, at least for standard-definition TVs. In early 2004 it plans to introduce a wireless version of its 15-inch Aquos LCD TV, the LC-15L1U-S ($1,799), that can receive audio and video. Plug a set-top box or DVD player into its "transmission center," and you'll be able to retrieve images from as far away as 300 feet via an 802.11b Wi-Fi link. Company officials say they've seen no radio interference from other appliances, but just in case, three different transmission frequencies are available.

Unlike other video manufacturers, Sharp is confident that it will soon be selling a Wi-Fi solution for distributing high-def signals in the home. At the recent CEDIA show in Indianapolis, Michael Amkreutz, director of marketing and product planning for Sharp's display devices, said that the company has a proprietary 802.11e system in the works that will let viewers send HDTV to its Aquos flat-panel TVs. An exact date isn't available, but Amkreutz suggested that it could arrive as early as next summer.

Some manufacturers are concentrating their efforts on creating wireless versions of digital TVs. Just this past September in Berlin, RCA parent Thomson demonstrated wireless transmission of HDTV images and will do so again at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show. But it hasn't determined when it will ship a product with those capabilities.

Pioneer Electronics has developed a device that can wirelessly send audio and video files to a digital TV, but it won't make it available for sale right away.

"Our tests show that it's not ready," said Matt Dever, the company's vice president of product planning. "The audio drops out. Even if it works fine 90% of the time, that's not good enough. Still, we're very excited about wireless because eventually that's the way customers will integrate all of their home-entertainment components."

That day may not be far off. While Toshiba won't introduce any wireless TVs this year, "we're definitely looking at it for next year," Scott Ramirez said. "We could conceivably market a wireless version of a digital media server. In the not-so-distant future, you'll see a digital HDTV set-top box that sends its signals wirelessly to a TV in another room. And you could see that product from Toshiba."

You'll just need to be patient and hold onto your Cat-5, coaxial, and component cables for a little while longer. - Eric Taub