Digital Home Thoughts: Ready for Wireless HD?

" Several leading consumer electronics companies are expected to announce Tuesday that they are working together to develop a new standard for transmitting high-definition audio and video signals wirelessly. Supported by LG, Matsushita (Panasonic), NEC, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and semiconductor maker SiBeam, the digital interface WirelessHD would enable high-speed streaming of audio and video content between consumer electronics devices like televisions, DVD players, game consoles and other portable devices without using cords. The group plans to release the specification in spring 2007. Televisions are the "natural" application for this, said John Marshall, president of WirelessHD. Eventually the technology will make its way into adapters for source devices like notebook PCs, digital video recorders, HD disc players, digital audio players and digital cameras. Because it does not compress the digital video, the experience will be the same as using a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) or digital video interface (DVI) cable, he said... WirelessHD will use the unlicensed 60GHz radio frequency band to send uncompressed HD video and audio at 5 gigabits per second at distances of up to 30 feet, or within one room of a house. While most other wireless audio and video transmissions occur in the 2.4GHz-to-5GHz range, WirelessHD says neither will allow the fast transmition speeds required for high-definition content."

My first thought is "Yay, just what I needed, another wireless protocol :roll: ." My second thought is "Hey, it would be really cool to wirelessly stream HD video from my laptop to my TV without needing a box in between." Then my third thought is "Too bad it will be replaced by another 'standard' wireless protocol in a year." Guess I'm just a cynic at heart (you probably knew that though :wink:). What are your thoughts? Cool? Lame? Meh?