 Wireless Trends
Wireless is the way to go...
"Even though today's consumer electronics still rely primarily on physical media
or on broadcasted delivery of most of the entertainment content that is produced, a recent study conducted by one
of the leading research companies in the industry has identified a major shift in the marketplace. The shift is
expected to be fueled by the significant wireless trends that are having an impact on a wide variety of businesses
and industries that are making more and more use of the internet and of wireless networking solutions.
Researchers and industry observers predict that the improvements in wireless mobile networks and in wireless
security will result in a much greater reliance on all kinds of wireless, network based content delivery of every
kind. These wireless trends are expected to be one of the catalysts that will enable and popularize the efficient
delivery and the redistribution of media content to homes that will be making the most of newer and better
generations of consumer electronic hardware devices.
With such wireless trends in mind, ABI Research, which is one of the most
respected research organizations in the industry, have forecasted that the overall number of devices that are Wi Fi
network enabled will mushroom from the 40 million units that shipped in the year 2006, to an estimated 250 million
Wi Fi devices that are expected to be delivered in the year 2011.
From the burgeoning interest in interactive internet gaming, to the rapid
development of brand new online distribution channels for the top-level television and movie content, the need for
increased connectivity in electronics for the mainstream consumers is growing incredibly fast in response to these
wireless trends. Until now, the Wi Fi networking market for the consumer has been primarily made up of gateways,
routers and adapters. But it is expected that as the market continues to evolve and embrace digital distribution of
all types of media, this trend will continue to grow and will be further fueled by the embedding of Wi Fi wireless
hardware in more and more consumer electronic devices.
The wireless trends in the marketplace today and in the near future will be led
by the portable gaming consoles that are so popular. The two major forces in gaming, Nintendo and Sony, have
equipped their latest and greatest generation of gaming devices with Wi Fi connection abilities, which has allowed
for multi-player gaming and interactive gaming over an internet connection. Other evidences of these trends are
seen in the technology added to the Zune device, making it Wi Fi enabled.
In addition, more and more digital camera manufacturers, such as Kodak, Nikon and
Canon, have all embraced the wireless trends by adding Wi Fi capability to their lines of digital cameras and
digital camcorders. Also, the traditionally line-powered devices, such as DVD players and audio receivers, are also
expected to be adding Wi Fi network capability to their products in the near future as well.
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