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The News – 02/25/03

Yet Another Wireless Standard

Apparently the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Ultrawideband wireless standards aren’t enough. Not only do we need to deal with Philips and Sony’s short-range Near Field Communication (NFC) standard, but a group improbably named the ZigBee Alliance is working to create a very low-cost, very low power consumption, two-way, wireless communications standard focused on automation and control rather than data communications. They envision this solution being embedded in consumer electronics, home and building automation, industrial controls, PC peripherals, medical sensor applications, toys and games. The group met last week in an “open house” to discuss their plans and brief the media and potential partners.

ZigBee devices are expected to be able to transmit 30-75 meters, depending on the RF environment, and will operate in the unlicensed RF bands worldwide (2.4GHz global, 915MHz Americas or 868MHz Europe). Use of the 2.4GHz band puts ZigBee square in the middle of the Wi-Fi or 802.11b standard bandwidth. Since your microwave oven and possibly your cordless phone operate in that range, it could get a bit crowded.

The Alliance includes Honeywell, Invensys, Mitsubishi Electric, Motorola and Philips Electronics. The ZigBee specification aims to provide low-cost, low-power home automation devices that will last several years on two AA alkaline batteries. Proposed ZigBee networks would allow homeowners to wirelessly control everything from lighting fixtures to home security systems. The group is planning on having the specification ready by early 2004, with the first devices available by mid-2004.

ZigBee arose out of the ashes of the failed HomeRF standard, whose butt Wi-Fi kicked thoroughly. The ZigBee specification is a combination of HomeRF Lite and the 802.15.4 specification. It is capable of connecting 255 devices and supports data transmission rates of up to 250Kbs can be achieved at 2.4GHz (10 channels), up to 40Kbs at 915Mhz (6 channels) and up to 20Kbs at 868Mhz (1 channel) at a range of up to 30 meters. Although ZigBee's is slower than 802.11b and Bluetooth, it consumes significantly less power.

I have to ask, however, how important low power consumption is likely to be in consumer devices placed in the home, in close proximity to electrical outlets. I guess these industry giants see something I don’t, because it really doesn’t seem necessary to have a separate standard for low-power home automation wireless communications.

According to ZigBee, possible applications for the technology include wireless home security, remote thermostats for air conditioners, remote lighting, drape controllers, call buttons for elderly and disabled, universal remote controllers for TV and radio, wireless keyboards, mouse and game pads, wireless smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and industrial and building automation and control. Pretty much all of these devices live near electrical outlets. So what am I missing, here? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

C|Net

Briefly Noted

• Shameless Self-Promotion Dept.: This issue features the debut of SNS Begware, an opportunity for you, gentle reader, to express your appreciation by tipping your server via PayPal. See the sidebar for more info.
  
  I’ve reworked the Opinion section, adding a Prediction Tracking page to track the various predictions I’ve made, and also added a Stuff I Said page with some quotes of things I said a decade or so ago on the Net.
  
  I repurposed and adapted an article about the wireless service known as Short Messaging Service (SMS) for the Reside newsletter. It’s entitled, Wherever they go, there you are and it points out how marketers can use – carefully – this new way to contact their customers.
  
  I’m featured in Manyworlds’ Thought Leader Showcase, which lists a few of the white papers I’ve done. I’ve also added their fancy icon to the StratVantage site.
  
  Finally, the CTOMentor wireless white paper, You Can Take It with You: Business Applications of Personal Wireless Devices, is available at ITPapers.
  
  
• Michelin to Include RFID in Every Tire: I mentioned in the last SNS that RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) was starting to take off. Well, now tire manufacturer Michelin has announced it is in trials that embed RFID transponders into every tire to enable them to be tracked electronically. After an 18-month test, Michelin will begin offering automakers the option of purchasing tires with embedded transponders.
  
  The RFID microchip stores the tire's unique ID, which can be associated with the vehicle identification number, and thus might be useful to law enforcement investigating tire/wheel theft. Of course, there are various other privacy-invading uses for such technology, including knowing who is passing by RFID-enabled checkpoints.
  
  Michelin is testing the tire in taxi and rental car fleets in several areas of the country. The transponders currently cost several dollars, but the price will drop with volume. Michelin manufactures more than 800,000 tires a day.
  
  One reason Michelin is interested in RFID technology is the TREAD (Transportation, Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation – don’t you just love lawmakers’ cute acronyms?) Act Congress passed in the wake of the Firestone/Ford Explorer debacle. The act requires carmakers to track tires from the 2004 model year on, so they can be recalled if there's a problem. Michelin could have the RFID technology for the 2005 model year. Although other tire manufacturers are planning on implementing RFID, Michelin claims to be the first to meet the Automotive Industry Action Group's B-11 standard for North America, which calls for a read distance of 24 inches.
   
  As one wag on techie bulletin board Slashdot said, “Let the privacy invasion begin!”
  RFID Journal
  
  
• Nigerian Scam Ends in Tragedy: As mentioned in a previous SNS, the various “help us get money out of Nigeria by giving us some of yours” – known to law enforcement as Nigerian 419 fraud – have been rising in popularity of late. Well, unfortunately, one such fraud attempt has ended badly for an innocent bystander. A retired 72-year old Czech man has been charged with the murder of the Nigerian Consul in Prague, Michael Lekara Wayid, after demanding reparations from the African state. If convicted the unnamed Czech could face up to 15 years in prison. How sad!
  Silicon.com
  
  
• Xbox Loses Bigtime: The only good thing about Microsoft’s attempts to extend its desktop monopoly to other computing areas is that it is not always successful, often because it underestimates how hard it is to operate in areas in which it is not the 600 pound gorilla. Witness the stunning losses of its Home and Entertainment division: $348 million in the last quarter of 2002. The software giant loses roughly $100 on the sale of every Xbox.
  
  Don’t worry about the company’s overall health, however: Its Information Worker division, which produces the Microsoft Office suite of products, had a record quarter –  $1.88 billion in profit on revenue of $2.41 billion – and the Windows division posted $1.97 billion in profit on revenue of $2.11 billion. Check out those profit margins – 78 percent and 93 percent! That’s what’s so scary. Microsoft can bankroll huge losses in whatever industry they try to embrace and extend to for an indefinite amount of time. The company expects the entire first-generation Xbox to never make a dime.
  Gamers.com
  
  
• Making Search Local: Canadian company Metamend has introduced new technology that will enable businesses store data in a Web site tag that contains Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data such as the location's latitude and longitude. Search engines will then be able to use this data on Web sites’ physical locations to enable geographically-specific searches. This development will be a great boon to search companies like FAST Search & Transfer and Google that are working with wireless phone companies to power mobile search that can deliver locally targeted results. I’ve been tracking this location-based application movement in the TrendSpot since May 2000.
  C|Net
  
  
• Come Alive! You’re in the Microsoft Net Generation: Or maybe not. Microsoft is releasing its Threedegrees service, which is targeted at teenagers and young adults who grew up using the Internet. The software creates a peer-to-peer social group of up to 10 people who can participate in the same instant messaging session, share photos, listen to music and meet friends. The software monopoly also plans to release the Windows Peer-to-Peer Update for Windows XP.
  
  The Threedegrees software is a product of Microsoft's 18-month-old NetGen division, a team of 12 recent college graduates which operates on a campus in downtown Seattle, separate from Microsoft's main operations in Redmond. The group’s charter is to develop products aimed at the “Net generation” – young people 13 to 24.
  
  Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg said, “If you look at Threedegrees closely, there are broader implications for this product for Microsoft, (such as) driving IM use for corporate purposes. Take the Threedegrees functionality and apply it to corporate work groups and you have the extension from communication to collaboration that goes beyond IM. If you look at the shared-picture feature and imagine that was a PowerPoint file, you get the idea of where Microsoft could go with this.”
  
  OK, I’m a bit confused. Isn’t Microsoft’s current .NET ad campaign based on one degree of separation? So is Threedegrees three times worse than .NET? And haven’t I heard their little Threedegrees slogan, “For the People, by the People” somewhere before?
  C|Net

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