Higher-Speed Wireless Can't Happen Fast Enough

I think it's fair to say that most of us have a love-hate relationship with wireless. We love the flexibility it provides, but constantly are disappointed by spotty connectivity and often glacial data transfer.

There's light at the end of the wireless tunnel, according to InternetNews.com:

A new alliance of tech heavyweights hopes to launch of a new generation of ultra high-speed wireless devices and connectivity that promises to be as much as 10 times faster than today's Wi-Fi wireless standard.
The WiGig Alliance says it expects to deliver final specifications and certification requirements for the new 60GHz wireless technologies by the end of this year. The first devices and systems to take advantage of the higher-speed network could be released as soon as next year.
"Whether anyone can build and deploy in 2010 is up to the individual companies, but the goal is to set up an infrastructure that can be enabled in that time frame," Mark Grodzinsky, a marketing executive with the WiGig Alliance, told InternetNews.com. "It wouldn't surprise me to see the first products out next year."

WiGig, whose 15 members include Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Dell (NYSE: DELL), NEC, Nokia, Samsung, Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM), Panasonic and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) unveiled its plans on Friday. The group is focusing on enabling indoor networks to operate at gigabit-per-second speeds.

One question the WiGig initiative raises concerns the future of Wi-Fi.

"There years from now I see tri-band Wi-Fi products on the market in massive deployments," Grodzinsky said. "There are some limitations to WiGig where Wi-Fi does a better job, whole home coverage for example."
The Wi-Fi industry's own advocacy group, the Wi-Fi Alliance, was also conciliatory in comments on the WiGig announcement.
"Wi-Fi and the proposed technology now in development by the WiGig Alliance seem complementary," said Kelly Davis-Felner, marketing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, in an e-mail sent to InternetNews.com. "Wi-Fi will remain the worldwide choice for high-speed networking around homes, enterprises and hotspots. WiGig may emerge as a technology for specific in-room technologies."

WiGig, Wi-Fi, I don't care. Like most people, I just want faster and more reliable wireless service. However we get there and whatever we call it matters little. Let's just arrive, preferably ahead of schedule.