Will Palm be using WiTooth

[WiTooth]

Hello All

I am new to forum discussions, so please forgive me if I am breaking any norms or not maintaining proper forum etiquette. Recently I have become very interested in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology. I don’t know very much of the technical details, but what I do know is that it is starting to pop up everywhere. I am noticing a lot more phones and PDAs that have both technologies included. My question is when are people going to start discussing WiTooth? If Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are going to be in everything in the future, people will probably start asking “does this phone have WiTooth technology in it?” What does anyone else think about this? I would love to hear different discussions about it. Is someone going to build a WiTooth chip that has both? Can the two be combined? Is anyone selling a WiTooth product yet? What is the future of WiTooth?
I’m sorry if you see this same posting in different forums, but I just want to hear from as many people as possible. I want to know more about WiTooth. Please forward this to anyone or start your own WiTooth forum.
Have a great day everyone.

[krhainos]

Well, technically they are combined. Both use 2.4Ghz frequency as far as I know - so they use the same radio circuit, the only thing different is what makes both of them unique : Bluetooth is for short-range low-bandwidth communication, and Wi-Fi is for longer range higher-bandwidth communication. Each of them have a future, but I don't think much'll come out if you combine the two.

On the other hand, I've never heard of the term "Wi-Tooth" until today.

[WiTooth]

I don't think that the two will be combined for a combination of uses, I think they will be combined for the economics. I figure companies will create Wi-Tooth chips so they won't have to configure two different devices in each item. It will just be one Wi-Tooth chip that does both. What do you or anyone else think? Will they be throwing Wi-Tooth chips in everything in the future?

[krhainos]

I don't think it's economic at all. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth both require separate certification from the FCC as far as I know, it's uneconomic for battery use if you just want to power one medium. Not to mention, that both probably use different busses inside the unit -- Bluetooth is basiaclly serial (rs232?) except wireless, while Wi-Fi requires higher bandwidth. I'm not sure what the advantage is aside from maybe taking less space on a PCB. It likely won't be cheaper to make since you'd have the issue of trying to put two different devices on one die. 802.11a/b/g chipsets are already pretty cheap to make, and apparnetly so are BT chips -- so why reinvent the wheel? Just use the existing technology.

Also, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are both different in ways they communicate, so they'll still require individual configuring. Sticking both Wi-Fi AND Bluetooth everywhere isn't the best thing either -- since you'd raise R&D, and support costs just to make the thing work and support the users that are using it. In some cases, Wi-Fi doesn't make sense -- like cellphones, and mice -- they simply don't require long range or high bandwidth, which is why just Bluetooth fits the bill. Would you want Wi-Fi and Bluetooth inside your cellphone draining your batter? I sure wouldn't. Just the idea that my cellphone might be snoopable from across the building is discomforting.

[WiTooth]

I found a company that has already come out with a Wi-Tooth product. They call it a bluewifly. Check it out on google. Doesn't it seem like a good example of wi-Tooth technology? Now there is the bluewifly and blue802. I think we will see more companies releasing Wi-Tooth products in the near future.