Certification process complete on first six new wireless USB devices from vendors including D-Link and Dell.

Connecting USB devices without cables has been a long time in coming but finally, the USB Implementers’ Forum (USB-IF) has announced certification of the first six wireless USB devices due to land on store shelves within the coming weeks.

The list includes the new Dell Inspiron 1720 notebook with on-board wireless USB controllers, a wireless USB adapter and four-port wireless USB hub from peripherals vendor D-Link, a similar product bundle from IOGEAR and Lenovo’s ThinkPad T61/T61p widescreen notebook, also with on-board wireless USB controllers.

The new devices all comply with Wireless USB 1.0 specification.

The new wireless standard will allow consumers to connect up a range of peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, digital cameras and external hard drives without the need of cables.

According to D-Link, its new products using ultra-wide-bandwidth (UWB) data transmission support a range of up to 30 feet (10 metres) and support data transfer speeds of up to 480 megabits per second (480Mbps), however the specification states that the 480Mbps speed is limited to just three metres (10 feet). By the time you reach 10 metres, data transfer rates have dropped to 110Mbps.

D-Link’s certified products so far are the DUB-2240 four-port wireless hub and the DUB-1210 Wireless USB adapter. The company will also be bundling the two together as the DUB-9240 Wireless USB kit.

The bundled kit is expected to sell for $US219 while the hub and adapter are priced separately at $US119 each.

The new devices will be based on chip technology from Alereon, which last month announced certification for its AL5300 dual-mode Device Media Access Controller/Baseband Processor (MAC/BBP) and AL5100 RF transmitter. The AL5100 is said to be the only chip so far that can transceive (transmit and receive) data on all 14 bands of the WiMedia UWB spectrum spanning frequencies from 3.1 to 10.6GHz.

The Dell Inspiron 1720 is available now however Dell has made no mention of wireless USB so far in its specifications for this model as of time of writing however this is likely to change shortly.

The current Inspiron 1720 model prices start from US$999.

“This is the beginning of a very exciting time for Certified Wireless USB, as the vision of a world without wires is realised. It is a great endorsement to have consumer recognised PC and CE [consumer electronics] companies be the first to incorporate Certified Wireless USB into new products. This makes a huge statement that Certified Wireless USB is here,” said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF President.

Wireless USB is expected to feature on a growing range of peripheral devices in time for the coming Christmas shopping season.