Wi-Fi: The Next Generation - What does this mean for Bluetooth?

The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced that it is set to finish work on a new specification that will make wireless internet technology easier to use for all consumers. The new model of Wi-Fi will be called Wi-Fi Direct and will enable wireless devices such as phones, printers, cameras, e-books and computers to connect without having to join a traditional network.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, with is comprised of companies such as Apple, Intel and Cisco, hope the new techonlofy will be available by mid-2010 and that it will be embraced by consumers, especially as only a software download is needed to upgrade.

"WiFi users worldwide will benefit from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications quickly and easily among devices, even when a WiFi access point isn't available," said Edgar Figueroa, executive director for the WiFi Alliance.

Speaking to the BBC, the Wi-Fi Alliance's marketing director, Kelly Davis-Felner said, "This is going to be a quick and convenient way to use wi-fi in future to print, synch, share and display.

"The consumer is going to experience this as a very easy-to-use mechanism that will be quite seamless."

This peer-to-peer connection is very similar to Bluetooth in that no router is present or required and will no doubt be a major rival when it comes on the market. It also has the advantage of faster speeds with estimated transfer times of up to 250 Mbps compared to Bluetooth's 11 Mbps.

In a clear 'throwing down of the gauntlet' against Bluetooth, Figueroa also said, "The impact is that WiFi will become even more pervasive and useful for consumers and across the enterprise."

Industry experts are already hailing the new technology with Victoria Foote, senior analyst at In-Stat, saying it was a "terrific innovation", and Ben Parr, co-editor of Mashable.com being quoted as saying the new software would be "far-reaching".

What is clear is that Bluetooth are seriously going to have to up their game as well as their transfer speeds if they don't want to lose this connectivity battle.

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