Rival camps form to link mobile devices with broadband

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 23 July 2008 03:32

Business IT - Technology

The 'TransferJet' system, announced by Sony earlier this year , will use UWB techniques around the 4.8GHz frequency to achieve throughput without causing interference ot other systems, but will have an effective range of only about3cms. The founding members of the consortium are Sony, Canon, Eastman Kodak, Hitachi, Victor Company of Japan (JVC), KDDI, Kenwood, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic), Nikon, Olympus, Pioneer, Samsung Electronics, Seiko Epson, Sony Ericsson (not entirely Japanese) and Toshiba.

Stephen Wood, president of the WiMedia Alliance, said: "We chose to work with Ecma to develop this new structure, because they had a firm understanding of the issues which cause standards to be delayed unnecessarily and had already addressed the overwhelming majority of these issues. Ecma's willingness to consider non-traditional strategies to standards development gave us the necessary flexibility to do something new."

According to Ecma deputy secretary general, Onno Elzinga, "WiMedia adds significant value both prior to and following actual standardisation...in research and certification respectively, thus complementing Ecma International's tried and true standardisation process. Ecma has established rules that favour consensus while balancing the interests of all stakeholders small and large. Additionally, the structure of this relationship provides access for WiMedia members to other standards which Ecma has expertise in developing without the need to replicate that body of work."