Wireless Home Networking - Index of

352
Part V: The Part of Tens
Still, the quest for the all-purpose android remains strong. For this reason,
you’re more likely to see humanoid robots demonstrating stuff such as
skipping rope at special events rather than cooking dinner in your kitchen.
Products such as Honda’s ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility,
world.honda.com/ASIMO/) are remarkable for the basic things they can do,
such as shake hands and bow, but the taskmasters we mention in the
preceding list can help you with day-to-day chores.
For years, we watched Sony’s cute Aibo robotic dog go through seven generations
of development, evolving into a wireless-enabled, 1,000-word barking
companion that was simply fun to play with. Then the disastrous news hit
that Sony had canceled the product for good. As we write, there are rumors
of a PlayStation-enabled Aibo, the Aibo PS. The Wi-Fi capable AIBO PS would
be completely controllable through a Sony PSP or PlayStation 3. Search
online when you read this and see whether this rumor became reality. If so,
you’d have a lot of fun with this new Aibo in your home.
Your Apparel
Wireless is making its way into your clothing. Researchers are already experimenting
with wearables — the merging of 802.11 and Bluetooth directly into
clothing so that it can have networking capabilities. Want to synch your PDA?
No problem: Just stick it in your pocket. All sorts of companies are working
on waterproof and washerproof devices for wirelessly connecting to your
wireless home network. Burton (the snowboard people) and Motorola have a
line of Bluetooth-enabled jackets called Audex (direct.motorola.com/ens/
audex/default.asp, $350). The Audex Motorola Jacket series sports built-in
Bluetooth wireless stereo speakers and a wired iPod connection — so it’s up
to you whether to listen to tunes or answer incoming calls. Dada Footware
has launched its wireless Code M shoe line (www.dadafootwear.com, $199)
that stores music and workout coaching and plays it either out loud or via
Bluetooth to wireless headsets. We have even seen jackets that display
advertisements on their backs and T-shirts that show the strength of any
Wi-Fi wireless signal available (www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/generic/991e/).
Wireless technology will also infiltrate your clothing through radio frequency
identification tags, or RFIDs, which are very small, lightweight, electronic,
read-write storage devices (microchips) half the size of a grain of sand. They
listen for radio queries and, when pinged, respond by transmitting their ID
codes. Most RFID tags have no batteries because they use the power from the
initial radio signal to transmit their responses; thus, they never wear out.
Data is accessible in real time through handheld or fixed-position readers,
using RF signals to transfer data to and from tags. RFID applications are infinite,
but when embedded in clothing, RFIDs offer applications such as tracking
people (such as kids at school) or sorting clothing from the dryer (no
more problems matching socks or identifying clothes for each child’s pile).