Wireless network technology Wi-Fi is commonly used in home networks and public spaces. It works well for Internet connections, but if you want to share data between devices you have to do it over the network since Wi-Fi comes short-handed for allowing devices to talk directly to each other. This will change with the new Industry standard Wi-Fi Direct. The new specification allows Wi-Fi devices to talk directly to each other through a Personal-Area Network (PAN) without the need for a central accesspoint.
This would make Wi-Fi a direct competitor to Bluetooth but sporting significantly higher transfer rates. The disadvantage is that Wi-Fi consumes more power, but the specification, code-named “Wi-Fi peer-to-peer”, brings many advantages.
“Wi-Fi Direct represents a leap forward for our industry. Wi-Fi users worldwide will benefit from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications quickly and easily among devices, even when a Wi-Fi access point isn’t available” – Edgar Figueroa Wi-Fi Alliance
Wi-Fi circuits are available with most mobile devices today and many of these circuits will become compatible through a simple firmware update. This would open up new opportunities for filesharing between mobile phones, printers, computers and such. A simple comparison of the maximal transfer rates of Bluetooth, 11Mbps, and Wi-Fi Direct, 250Mbps, should be enough to convince people this is a technology worth investing in.
The final specification for Wi-Fi Direct will be nailed soon, and in the middle of next year we can expect the first certified products.
