TechVIEWS

Going wireless

Samiul Islam Rikth

"What does this wire do?"
"Where does this wire go?"
"Which wire is this?" A couple of years ago, all these questions made you go completely insane and nuts. Starting from telephones right through to computers, its related accessories, and speakers and even the internet, everything were wired. Everything had numerous cables and wires attached and connected to them. I mean you would just sit for hours after hours and go through each and every cable and wire, all tangled and messed up; wondering about the wires related to your product. And look at us now… I am sitting here at Coffee World, accessing my e-mail, while treating myself to a nice, hot cappuccino. It's unbelievable! In recent years, technology has advanced so much that you don't need to connect several cables and wires to your computer. Nor do you need to sit at one place while speaking to someone on the telephone (since it's no longer fixed and hooked up with anything else with cables and wires). Even nowadays you do not need to struggle and worry about where you are going to hide the wires dangling down from your speakers. The reason being… Everything, almost everything, has become completely wireless. Enhancement in technology has progressed so much that wireless is taking over. Now we have different kinds of wireless computer accessories like a wireless mouse, wireless keyboard. Not only that, there are ever wireless speakers and headsets available, not to forget cordless phones! Now, what is wireless? This is the system of transferring information over a distance without the use of any kind of wires or cables. The information is transmitted via the use of some form of energy like radio frequency (RF), infrared light, laser light, visible light, acoustic energy and many more. Ever since its discovery, going wireless has hit the tech market by storm. Reducing and minimising the usage of wires and cables probably became the motto of most of the tech providers. Cordless telephones were one of the earliest wireless discoveries. Although the two words, cordless and wireless don't go hand in hand, cordless phones were regarded as wireless since it reduces the usage of wires, which are only used to accommodate the fixed telephone line. Following cordless phones, we were blessed with a much more modern, portable, and wireless device cellular phones also known as mobiles. Since then life could not have become so easy, fun and flexible all at the same time. When computers first made its grand entry it was all wired. The monitor, mouse, and keyboard- the entire package was all wired. But now, a wireless computer can be set up. Apart from the power adaptor almost everything has gone wireless. I mean you have a wireless monitor, keyboard, mouse and what not. Wireless speakers, printers, scanners have all stormed into the market and now when you buy a new computer; you don't have to stress on the fact that which wire goes where. All these wireless applications have made the maintenance of your computer extremely easy. No more hassle of having wires and cables dangling from here and there. Neither do you have the worry or stress of tangling them into a mess and then waste hours and hours unraveling them. With wireless speakers, you don't have to worry about where you can set this speaker without the wire being visible. Wireless accessories like the mouse and keyboards give you the freedom of sitting anywhere within that certain range and using them, all relaxed and laid back. Wireless, or Wi-Fi, is the fresh new technology that is creating the entire buzz lately in our country and is also another way of connecting your computer to the network using radio frequency and no network cables. Its purpose is to provide wireless access to digital content such as audio and visual media, internet connectivity, or other data. Wi-Fi works similarly to cordless phones; they transmit data from one point to another through radio signals. But wireless technology also requires you remain within the wireless network range area to be able to connect your computer. There are three different types of Wi-Fi networks- Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) and Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWAN). Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is the wireless network that is widely recognised and it is the network system that uses radio waves. The backbone network usually uses cables, with one or more wireless access points connecting the users to the wired network. The range of a WLAN can be anywhere from a single room to an entire campus. With its growing popularity, Wi-Fi is available in quite a few places within the metropolitan. A variety of new and old hang-out places are implementing the Wi-Fi technology to attract their customers so that they can make the most of everything. Places like Coffee World, PM Lounge, Cuppa Coffee Club and Coffi11 and almost all the reputed hotels have Wi-Fi services available making their customers' and visitors' time even more pleasant and enjoyable. With the world demand for energy growing rapidly, new forms of energy that will be sustainable, economical, and that will not worsen environmental damage need to be discovered. That's one of the main reasons why energy transfer is the latest process that's going wireless, so that it could emerge as a potential alternative for us. Wireless energy transfer or wireless power technology is the process that takes place in any system where electrical energy is transmitted from a power source to an electrical load, without interconnecting wires in an electrical grid. Over the years, several wireless transmission techniques have been discovered and experimented ranging from induction to radio and microwaves to laser and many more to name. In 2008, Intel repeated the experiment done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007 and powered a light bulb wirelessly with 75% efficiency at a shorter distance using a two 60cm-diameter coils. Wireless power transmission will give you freedom from wires and at the same time ensures safe power transmission and most of the developed countries have started their research and work using its full potential. It's amazing to see how almost everything is becoming wireless by 2008. It will not come as a surprise as to how mobile and wireless we become in the next couple of years. It is about time that cables and wires become extinct and we are freed from all the tangle and dangle. Going wireless is the way to go; It's the way to the future.