Bluetooth, who needs it? The future of wireless communications between portable devices is here and exciting is an understatement. NFC, or Near Field Communication, has been discussed at length this week as Nokia announced the upcoming 6212 Classic handset. Available Q3 of this year, the 6212 will be Nokia’s first production handset to be equipped with NFC. Unlike bluetooth and infrared, NFC is a secure wireless communication technology that is available instantly amongst equipped handsets. No pairing either; simply tap two devices together and let the data exchange begin. Too cool. Parrot’s upcoming speakers will allow owners to simply tap any NFC-touting audio source (like the 6212) against it to initiate a connection. Then let the music streaming begin. The speakers are lightweight, pack 6W and run for about 2.5 hours using NFC on a full charge. For those who aren’t early adopters, there is also a wired connection available for MP3 players and the like. Parrot’s virgin NFC offering should start shipping this summer with a price tag around $150.

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The FCC’s auction for the 700 MHz block of wireless spectrum has finally come to an end, earning a healthy chunk of cash for the last major portion of spectrum available in the US. The target for the auction was a modest $10 billion but as it turned out, sights were set a bit low. Bidding wrapped up yesterday evening and while identities of the winning parties have not yet been disclosed, the grand total has: a paltry $19.6 billion. So why haven’t the identities of the winning bidders been revealed yet? Despite the overall success of the auction, there was one block of available spectrum that failed to meet the minimum bid amount set by the FCC. Analysts believe that this block of spectrum, the ‘D block’ set aside for public safety use only, will ultimately be withdrawn from this auction and sold at a later date so that funds from those blocks that did sell can be collected. The 700 MHz spectrum is currently used in the US by broadcast television, however the band will become available next year with the switch to digital. What new services will we see pop up as this decade draws to an end? Unfortunately we all have to wait a bit longer to find who the winners were before any reasonable speculation can begin.

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Hating on Monster seems to be the latest craze but if you’re a music lover and a tech lover, then there’s no denying that the iSoniCast is a cool piece of gear. Monster’s latest gadget is sleek and well-designed, convenient and surprisingly cheap as well. iSoniCast is a wireless audio bridge that allows you to wirelessly stream tunes from your iPod to your home audio system. Making use of the 2.4 GHz spectrum, it touts 4 Mbps (no, not 4 Gbps as one of the bullets on the product page states) of throughput to facilitate clear and uninterrupted playback with minimal interference. In fact, the unit makes use of intelligent frequency hoping to ensure that frequency crossing is kept at a bear minimum. iSoniCast easily hooks up to any home audio system using RCA connectors and the look should go nicely with your existing gear. Perhaps the best part about Monster’s design is that it uses the iPod itself to control playback. No need to worry about adding yet another remote to your junk drawer and no need to head over to your system in order to select a new track or playlist. Even if you pass on Monster’s overpriced cables, at $100 the iSoniCast is definitely worth a look.

[Via Monster PR]

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Move over Bluetooth, your time in the spotlight could be coming to an end sooner than we thought. Researchers down under at Melbourne University in Australia have recently unveiled an entirely new short-range wireless data transfer technology that could be introduced as soon as next year. GiFi, as it has unfortunately been dubbed, utilizes a 5mm square chip and a 1mm wide antenna requiring less than 2 watts of power to transmit data wirelessly at distances comparable to Bluetooth. Bluetooth 3.0, however, which is currently being developed, will be limited to 480 Mbps while GiFi has already achieved speeds of up to 5 Gbps. On top of everything else, GiFi operates on the 60 GHz frequency band which is for the most part unused. Of course the possibilities are endless. Portable electronics, computers, home theater multimedia equipment; imagine your set top box being able to receive wireless streams at 5 Gbps! You might not have to imagine for very long if all goes well. GiFi could be ready for prime time in 2009 and with a cost-per-chip of approximately $10, it shouldn’t take very long to be widely adopted.

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As we saw during this year’s CES, big advancements are being made in the realm of wireless charging. Wildcharge, the piece of technology that theoretically started the mini-craze, was recently made available to the public. The catch; the only adapter currently available fits the RAZR V3. For real? From a reach standpoint the V3 is a good target of course, but the type of consumer interested in Wildcharge’s solutions probably ditched their RAZR a few years ago. No worries though, more adapters are on the way. The next version in line is due out before Winter ends and will be compatible with the iPod nano 2G. Wait, seriously? Once we get these two out of the way, Wildcharge is working on versions for the BlackBerry Pearl and 8800 along with the iPhone and a few other devices. What’s more, hit the poll in the sidebar on their site and you can easily give Wildcharge your two cents in terms of which devices they should target next. Although it’s already affordable at $90 for a charging pad / adapter bundle, this technology will become much more viable as manufacturers adopt it and integrate the necessary components into the product. This means that nothing will be needed other then a pad and the device itself. It also means that the charger / data port will always be open and available. The bottom line is that no one wants to walk around with a Wildcharge adapter attached to their handset. Keeping that in mind, if you’re going to have to plug something in each time you charge your device… Well, it might as well be a charger.

[Via IntoMobile]

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It’s great that we live in an age where any wireless data transfer technology can be considered old school. We still use infrared technology in low-end technology such as TV remotes, but when is the last time you transferred files between two devices using IR? There is no question that Bluetooth has settled in nicely as the wireless data transfer technology of choice, and rightfully so. In terms of speed, reliability, and range, Bluetooth is far and away the better protocol. More and more mobile devices are also equipped with Wi-Fi, providing yet another means of speedy data transfer. Of course everything old is new again somewhere along the line and it looks like Japan-based KDDI is poised to give infrared a comeback stronger than 80’s fashion. KDDI’s research laboratories have reworked the components that facilitate infrared technology, swapping out the LEDs of old for semiconductor lasers that can blink at rates that would make any diode blush. Coupled with integrated memory to handle the increased throughput, the revamped technology is reported to transfer data at a blistering 1Gbps. In other words, it would take less than a second to transfer a full CD of music! KDDI also claims to have added a layer of much-needed stability that will make the revamped infrared protocol much more user friendly. This means that beyond improvements in transfer rate, the days when you had to initiate an infrared transfer four or five times before your tiny file would actually reach its destination are long gone. If KDDI’s infrared revision sees the light of day, it could mean big things for PCs and all types of mobile devices. All of the sudden those 16GB microSDHC cards on the horizon from SanDisk aren’t looking quite as spacious.

[Via S-F]

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Welcome to the age where your remote could very well be the most sophisticated piece of technology in your home theater setup and beyond. The upcoming vPad by VidaBox slaps a 1024 x 786 resolution 10.4-inch touchscreen onto a remote with 802.11b & g support that’s less than 1 1/2-inches thick! The vPad allows you to control your home theater gear and multi-room audio setup, adjust your lighting scheme and even control your thermostat all from one wireless controller. The battery on the vPad is good for about 2 1/2 hours of usage and the included dock charges the sleek remote while displaying it in style to your envious friends. You can even monitor your home security cameras right on the vPad’s high resolution display so you’re ready to go all "Say chello to my lil’ frand" on anyone jealous of your setup. It’s designed to compliment VidaBox’s full line of controllers but will also work with your existing web-controllable home automation and/or multi-zone audio serving hardware, if you’ve already got it like that. If you already have a Crestron unit, though, you’re not missing out

[Via Engadget]

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Shopping for a phone is as exciting as ever. New features like WiFi, music, video, and better cameras also make the task of finding the perfect handset difficult. Adding new handsets will only make things better worse. Hot on the heels of GPS-clad 3G offerings from the likes of HTC and Nokia, Mio is looking to get in the game. Their entrant? A 3G GPS-enabled phone due out sometime late in 2008. What may set them apart are new features such as photo-navigation, real-time traffic updates (sweet!), and even Location-based services so you can get spammed by the latest specials. Speculation is that Mio is not alone, with some suggesting that Garmin is about to get into the game, as well. We just hope that these GPS-makers, while good at what they do, don’t skimp on the features that make a phone…well…a phone.

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…in the UK, that is. Nokia has just launched their spanking new Nokia Music store, effective immediately. The new offering should allow anyone with an N95 or N81 to wirelessly download tracks directly to their device. The service is also available from a desktop interface, which will allow you to sync the files seamlessly with your handset once connected.The tracks cost 80 pence each, or 8 pounds per record. We’re not quite up on the current rate of exchange between the Pound and the Dollar, but that pricing model does seem a bit steep. Nevertheless, wireless downloading is a pretty appealing option. While it certainly won’t give iTunes a run for its money as a desktop music source, It’s a great interface accompanied by a decent catalog. No complaints here. Unfortunately this is currently only available to Nokia users in the UK, though we expect a more comprehensive roll out to begin sometime soon.

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