USB Gets Unwired

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,112101,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article...d,112101,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"Component manufacturer Cypress is touting a new wireless standard designed to free keyboards, mice and game controllers from their cables. WirelessUSB LS aims to allow any of these USB peripherals to operate wirelessly with your PC. Unlike similar wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, WirelessUSB LS isn't a networking solution. It works on a simple point-to-point basis. This allows, for example, your keyboard to talk to your PC, enabling fast, simple communication between a PC and USB device."<br /><br />You know, as much as I decry all these wireless "standards" because they make life more complex for consumers, after reading this article I thought "Yeah, that's the way it's supposed to work." No configuration, no hassles. Go give the article a read, then let me know what you think about the concept. Ultra-low latency and ultra-efficient battery life? If there's sufficient market penetration (that's always the hard part), then I'm sold. I don't mind fighting with Bluetooth for more complex devices that require networking (like Pocket PCs and phones), but a keyboard, mouse, or printer? Just let me plug it in and get on with my day.<br /><br />When you stop and think about it, Bluetooth is nothing like the cable replacement it's purported to be. Cables simply plug in, and work. When's the last time you had to configure your PS/2 keyboard port to work with a new keyboard? Or configured an AC power jack to work with a new monitor? You just plugged it in, and worked. Sure, you might need to install software to make the keyboard do certain things, but the port itself just works. Bluetooth, on the other hand, harkens back to the old days of yore with the configuration of COM ports and whatnot.

[Jimmy Dodd]

I've always wondered why wireless solutions for cable replacement try to replace more than the wire. I would love to find a mouse or keyboard that came with a dongle that I plugged into the mouse or keyboard port on the back of the PC and worked in such a way that the PC had no idea of the difference. The keyboard and the dongle could be keyed together uniquely so that there is zero configuration and no chance for error.

[Jason Dunn]

I've always wondered why wireless solutions for cable replacement try to replace more than the wire. I would love to find a mouse or keyboard that came with a dongle that I plugged into the mouse or keyboard port on the back of the PC and worked in such a way that the PC had no idea of the difference. The keyboard and the dongle could be keyed together uniquely so that there is zero configuration and no chance for error.

That's the way most RF-based wireless devices work. Some require drivers to detect battery life and whatnot, but I know with an old Logitech keyboard + mouse I had, the damn thing worked from my BIOS screen! It was awesome, and exactly the way all wireless devices like that should work.

[egads]

I've played with a development kit from Cypress with these wireless USB devices and its pretty cool. I'd prefer Wirless USB to BlueTooth any day...

[[email protected]]

I think this is what the consumer market really needed. No fuss, no muss. Just unwrap and start using. way to go.

[David C]

I think it would be nice if someone comes out a protocol where it's like Bluetooth, but each of the devices has a conductive connection point. The connection point can be used to touch the 2 device together, transfer each device's profile, driver, security information ect... Then, each time after, the device will automatically recognize each other because it has shaken hand before. Kinda like the cordless phone that we use, where you have to sit the phone on the base station first to begin use. That would make everything easier.

This would solve the problem of:

1. Secruity. Nothing beats the security of a wired device. By having the 2 device connect once, it can both be recognized as authorized partner. The 2 device can then transfer a special key to each other that authorized the use.
2. Ease of use. Even grandma knows how to touch 2 things togther.
3. Driver. Once the 2 device touch, it can transfer the required driver to each other. If the device are not meant to work with each other. they simply reject each other.

[caywen]

There's always some guy who believes himself to be smarter than he really is. That guy always overcomplicates the product vision and ends up providing features the REAL customers aren't asking for. You know who you are.

[Janak Parekh]

Honestly? I say "easier said than done". :) They market that it's easy to use, but has anyone described actual deployed implementations?

Bluetooth is complex because it needs to support a wide array of devices, and because wireless has, by definition, a greater need for security than wired. However, it can do a lot. Who is going to support this "standard"? What will this "standard" be able to do? How will you be able to be sure communications are secured without individual passcodes or bonding techniques? There are a lot of unanswered questions that this article poses. egads, can you shed any light on this?

Oh, and an analogy: if anyone remembers when USB first came out, it was a nightmare. We all think it's easy plug-and-play now, but it was far from that. So was Wi-Fi 5 years ago. Things take time to shake out and become easy. All that said, if they pull it off, more power to them. ;)

--janak

[hdsalinas]

I don´t have any experience with bluetooth, but I always had the idea that it would detect any device nearby automatically without doing any configuration. For example, If you walked into a office with your Bluetooth enabled PDA,a window would pop out on your PDA telling you that there is a BT printer, PC, cellphone or a fax available for you to use and you would not need to configure anything at all.

Is this how it works or is not that simple?

I have a WIFI network at home and although I think it could be more user friendly, I realize that networking is a bit more complicated for the average user to begin with.

This technology if implemented right, could be the next great thing.

[yunez]

We all think it's easy plug-and-play now, but it was far from that. So was Wi-Fi 5 years ago.
i think wifi is still too flaky, still too cumbersome.

[Sven Johannsen]

Is this how it works or is not that simple?

If only it were. It is aggravating on occasion even withe the best implementations.

Personally I don't think we need a new wireless wire replacement concept. That is what BT is designed to do. Let's get it to the point it does that, seemlessly, consitantly. Some of the complexity of BT is the desire (or customer demand) for it to do more than just wire replacement. If you kept to the original idea there would be no need for any such animal as a a BT AP, and a BT network would be a dichotomy of terms.

This USB replacement seems like it is intended to do what BT should stick to. I give it 6 months before we have Wireless USB networks and the complexity skyrockets. Sample newsgroup question: If I get two of those wireless USB things for my laptop and desktop, can I get a USB hub and network them together?

[SassKwatch]

"Component manufacturer Cypress is touting a new wireless standard designed to free keyboards, mice and game controllers from their cables. WirelessUSB LS.......You know, as much as I decry all these wireless "standards" because they make life more complex for consumers, after reading this article I thought "Yeah, that's the way it's supposed to work." No configuration, no hassles.
I certainly agree with your sentiment re: 'No configuration, no hassles'. But every time someone talks of 'wireless' for input devices, I keep asking myself why anything new is needed. I've been using a Logitech 'wireless' keyboard/mouse combo for going on 5 yr now. And it's been about as troublefree as you get. Heck, the battery life is so good, that on those *RARE* occasions when they do begin to wane in power and the device starts acting a little wierd, my initial thought is something's wrong with the pc. And then I remember the batteries....but can never remember what size they are until I open up the mouse/keyboard because it's been so long since I last looked at them.

I just don't get why we keep trying to re-invent the wheel on this one. Seems like we keep trying to invent new solutions for old problems that already had perfectly good solutions.

[Janak Parekh]

I've been using a Logitech 'wireless' keyboard/mouse combo for going on 5 yr now.
With its own special dongle. And try getting a new Logitech mouse -- it'll require its own dongle. And while that's workable on the desktop, try dragging multiple dongles with your laptop. ;)

The simple RF transmitters work well for the simple, applied situations, but I strongly believe there is a market for what BT provides. It may take time to settle down, so we'll see how right (or wrong!) I am.

--janak

[hollis_f]

The problem with the 'zero-configuration' wireless connection is security. Would you worry if somebody walking outside your house could connect to your PC and start downloading anything on there? Or could connect a keyboard, open a command window and type 'format c:'?

The logitech keyboard is great - but it does come with the option to configure an ecrypted mode. The start of the slippery slope?

A lot of the BT problems people experience are in geting the devices paired - i.e. setting up a connection that will be secure in the future. There must be (slightly) easier ways of doing this, but I don't think configuration will ever go away.

[SassKwatch]

I've been using a Logitech 'wireless' keyboard/mouse combo for going on 5 yr now.
With its own special dongle. And try getting a new Logitech mouse -- it'll require its own dongle. And while that's workable on the desktop, try dragging multiple dongles with your laptop. ;)

True enough. But at the prices these combos sell for, if either the mouse or keyoard quit working, I'd just buy a new set. That said, if the BT variations on the theme came down in price to the point where they were only 10-15% greater in price than the simple RF devices like I've been using, I'd have no problem making the switch. But when the 'new' solution is almost double the price, I'll stick with the old one as long as it's available. IMO, BT's most serious limitation at this point is the pricing of the equipt, not the 'pairing' issue. I have a BT GPS that has been as pain free to pair with both 54xx and 55xx series iPAQ's as was the Logitech keyboard/mouse combo to the desktop. For me, there were enough advants to the BT device in that example to justify paying the price premium for a BT solution, but that simply isn't the case when it comes to keyboards/mice.

Because the 'Natural' style keyboards *seem* to be slowly disappearing from mfr lineups, I almost bought a couple extra of these Logitech combos (or an MS equivalent) earlier this year just to throw in the closet for future use. But I figured by the time I got to actually needing to use the last set, the drivers that originally came with it would be completely obsolete and there wouldn't be any available for whatever OS was the big kid on the block at that time.