A/V equipment maker Gefen says they’ll ship several ultrawideband cable replacements in 2007. The company will ship the Wireless USB Extender, a four-port USB hub that connects via UWB to a USB dongle on a computer, for $249 in January. Of course, last January, they said, “Cable-free USB 2.0 extension is a reality for…Gefen…The unit…marks the initial release of UWB-enabled product for the US market.”
Ha, ha! Just kidding! We meant, January 2007! Last year’s product, which they claimed to “showcase” at CES wasn’t really shown. At Macworld Expo, a few days later, I asked Mr. Gefen himself for a demo, but they didn’t even have a plastic brick as a prototype. Belkin had a plastic brick at their booth, but it had no innards. Both Belkin and Gefen had planned to be the early partners of Freescale, which now is apparently out of the UWB business, as far as the tea leaves suggest.