I continue to say that anything which helps me to get rid of
wires is aces with me. Basically I can't stand wires. I truly
believe that anyone who has confronted the rat's nest of wires
behind their desk must be in agreement to my cordless mantra of
"Wires Are Evil." Over the years, things have improved within the
area of connectivity. Gone for the most part are parallel cables,
serial cables and those really thick and ugly SCSI cables.
The wires we see on modern computers are usually USB and Ethernet
types along with a smattering of Firewire cables. The good news is
that wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and WiFi continue
making a large portion of those wired connections disappear into
thin air.
Still, wires continue to plague us and I don't see them
completely disappearing in the near future. For now, power cables
seem to be the final holdout. We really don't have a practical way
to send significant amounts of power through the air so it looks
like power cords will remain a necessary evil. Of course clever
engineering can reduce their numbers via cable management systems
and some products that let a single power cord provide electricity
to everything via a system of pass-through connectors.
Most anyone who has ever purchased a cable for their computer
probably knows about Belkin. Based in California, the company is a
market leader in the production of most every kind of computer and
audio/video cable out there.
So it's interesting to note that this leading cable manufacturer
continues to come up with wireless solutions. Recently the company
announced its new CableFree USB Hub, the industry's first USB Hub
that does not require a cable to connect it to the computer.
The CableFree USB Hub consists of two main parts. The first is
the little transceiver stick that plugs into any USB port on the
computer. The other is the hub itself. The powered four-port hub
sits anywhere in the room and makes its cordless connection to the
computer. You can plug in up to four USB devices and that's pretty
much it. The connection to the computer is handled via a proprietary
wireless connection called Freescale's Ultra-Wideband Technology. At
rates 100 times faster than Bluetooth, the CableFree Hub is capable
of handling high data transfer rates needed for video, audio, and
data streams.
I don't know what took them so long to come out with something
like this but I can tell you that I already have the perfect place
where this will become a necessity. Years ago, I had designed a
custom wall unit to hold two of my printers and two other USB
devices (currently my scanner and label printer).
Unfortunately the USB cable I had wired inside the wall behind
the unit to the computer had become damaged. In addition, it was an
older USB 1.1 cable so I couldn't enjoy the faster speed of my new
USB 2.0 peripherals in the cabinet. Being able to wireless connect
all of them via a cordless connection brings me and the peripherals
back up to date. Placing the CableFree hub in the cabinet lets me
connect all of the USB devices there into the hub. Since the hub
communicates to the computer with out a wire, all of my USB devices
in the cabinet will once again be connected without the ugly wire
hanging across the wall and over the desk to the computer.
The CableFree wireless hub was originally scheduled for release
in June but has been delayed until next month. The projected price
for the CableFree wireless hub is 129.99.
I realize that the cable-free office is still a ways off but the
CableFree Hub is certainly another milestone toward its realization.
