Projected to debut nearly a year after Apple introduced 802.11g support with Airport Extreme, “Intel is picking up the pace on introducing 802.11g technology into its products, as the emerging wireless networking specification gathers customer and standards support. The chipmaker is moving up the timeframe for using 802.11g technology in its Centrino bundle of chips, Sean Maloney, Intel executive vice president, said Thursday at the company’s spring analyst meeting in New York,” reports Richard Shim for ZDNet.
Shim continues, “The emerging 802.11g specification is for Wi-Fi networks that transmit data at 54 megabits per second (mbps), use the 2.4GHz band and are compatible with equipment based on earlier 802.11b wireless technology. Wi-Fi lets people wirelessly access and share resources on a network. The Centrino bundle comprises a new low-power Pentium-M processor, a chipset and Wi-Fi components tested by Intel.”
“Maloney said Intel will be in production with a Centrino package that includes an 802.11b/802.11g component by the end of the year… Behind Intel’s accelerated schedule for 802.11g is the progress that the specification has made in the standards and interoperability approval process, along with its growing popularity in the market, according to Maloney,” Shim reports.
ZDNet does not mention that, in contrast, “Apple was the first computer company to ship products based on 802.11b when it launched AirPort in 1999, kick-starting the entire Wi-Fi wireless revolution […and, on January 7, 2003, launched] AirPort Extreme, the next generation of wireless products based on 802.11g that runs at 54 Mbps, yet is fully compatible with the millions of 802.11b Wi-Fi devices and Hot Spots around the world,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO in a press release.
Full ZDNet article here.
Wow – only a year later, Wintel is getting better. Last time it took 11 years to get a halfway there knock-off of the old Mac OS (1984-Win95).
We (apple users) should be thankfull that they (Intel) follow the same 802.11g specs!
Remember, there are other non-Intel 802.11g products for wintel.
“Behind Intel’s accelerated schedule for 802.11g is the progress that the specification has made in the standards and interoperability approval process” <— Im sure this got something to do with the “delayed” effort by Inte.
The fact that they will integrate support in their chips, means lower cost than anything Apple can compete against. Nice move by Intel, even though wintel-user already got several 802.11g proucts to choose from.
“But judging from informal tests of the first shipping prestandard 802.11g hardware from Buffalo, D-Link, and Linksys, you shouldn’t shy away from these early birds–if you need to buy now. Not only are these products fast and–at $125 to $149 for gateways–only a bit more expensive than 802.11b equivalents, but in our tests they worked seamlessly with each other as well as with 802.11b gear from other vendors. One caveat: Vendors say that these products will need only free, downloadable firmware updates to meet final certification standards, but there are no ironclad guarantees.”
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,109583,00.asp
I guess the same thing applies to Apple Airport “extreme”. Because Apple shipped the product before the specs was finalized, a patch or two might be needed in the future. Not a big deal really.
They should be able to benefit greatly from all of Apple’s hard work by then. So let’s say the buy a APE card, and completely reverse-engineer it, write some drivers for it, QA the thing, write some PR garbage about how they invented the thing… yeah, a year seems about right.
I wonder why they stopped backing 802.11a
I thought linksys was the first out of the gate for 802.11g. While Apple advertised it with the new Powerbooks, Linksys was already starting to ship product. I remember this because I was in the process of buying a 12″ powerbook while a friend had already received her Linksys router and card.
“Nearly a year”?! What grade of Kool-Aid are you drinking? If you want to be taken seriously as a Mac news site, surely your news should be accurate. Airport Extreme (802.11g) was introduced in January 2003, a full five-and-a-half months ago. This isn’t even past the six-month halfway mark of the year, so there is *no way* it was “nearly a year” ago, as stated in the big blue text of your headline.
Lame, lame, lame. If you’re so confident of the Mac’s superiority, why can’t you make that case with intellectual honesty?
And before you flame me, note that I’m typing this disgusted reply on my trusty Apple iBook, the only computer I own.
S.
Pods at ArsTechnica, I suggest you read the first line of the article. It DOES NOT say that Intel is releasing it NOW…… What kind of Cordial are YOU drinking? (Kool-aid is known as cordial in my neck of the woods, and no, it’s not the alcoholic type….)
“Nearly a year”?! What grade of Kool-Aid are you drinking? If you want to be taken seriously as a Mac news site, surely your news should be accurate. Airport Extreme (802.11g) was introduced in January 2003, a full five-and-a-half months ago. This isn’t even past the six-month halfway mark of the year, so there is *no way* it was “nearly a year” ago, as stated in the big blue text of your headline.
Lame, lame, lame. If you’re so confident of the Mac’s superiority, why can’t you make that case with intellectual honesty?
And before you flame me, note that I’m typing this disgusted reply on my trusty Apple iBook, the only computer I own.
S.
Umm Pods … RTFA … it says Intel will incorporate 802.11g ” by the end of the year” , defintely qualifying as “nearly a year”. Apologize now.
Well the reason I made that dumbass mistake is because I was headline surfing, which is what a lot of people do to cull low-importance news (this certainly counts, and I’m wasting way too much time here, but whatever). If the headline is taken by itself, then it’s vaguely misleading, and despite my error, there is still plenty of Kool-Aid swilling around here.
Posterity, Birdseed: /smirk.
Don’t worry about flaming back, I shan’t return.
S.
LOL. You children understand there’s a big difference between “integrated” (what Intel’s doing) and “add-on card” (what Apple’s doing), right?
Right?
No?
Paul writes…
Who gives a rats-butt if it’s integrated?!
Surely NOT me!!!
No Paul, you’re wrong. There isn’t a big difference. Besides, Apple ships some machines with the Airport card already installed, which makes it pretty comparable. Regardless, it doesn’t make any difference. I’d even argue that Apple’s way is better because an Airport card can be added to any computer, even the desktop models, where with Centrino, you’ll only get it with the laptops.