Airborne pix transfers get boost

Wireless USB technology hasn't exactly been taking off like gangbusters, but Samsung may be poised to change that with some new system-on-a-chip (SoC) technology it announced today. According to Samsung, its new W-USB SoC combines the convenience of wireless connectivity, the security level of wired USB, and the high performance of ultra wideband to instantly transform mass storage data such as digital photos, movie videos or MP3 music files between electronic devices. The company boasts that its new W-USB SoC can download a 700 megabyte movie in approximately one minute.

Initially, the technology is expected to be applied to digital cameras and mobile phones and gradually expand into other electronic devices such as wireless printers, beam projectors, wireless hard disks, wireless displays and wireless speakers. One application for the new tech cited by Samsung is the ability to directly send photos from a digital camera to a PC or view them instantly on a TV.

Samsung noted that its new SoC consumes very little power--less than 300 milliwatts--making it ideal for use with electronic devices like mobile phones and digital cameras.

Samsung's W-USB SoC is expected to go into mass production in the second quarter of this year.