Intel has upgraded the wireless component of its Centrino Duo chips to support the new 802.11n wireless LAN technology, offering significantly better performance than 802.11a/b/g WiFi And the IEEE has announced finalisation of the 802.11n standard.
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Meanwhile the IEEE 802.11n committee has approved the latest version of 802.11n dubbed draft version 1.10, it will be known as version 2.0 when it is released to the full IEEE 802.11n committee by the end of the month.
ComputerWorld quoted working group member, Bill McFarland, saying that concerns of all the contending parties who caused the original delays appear to be satisfied. Thee included the handset and handheld manufacturers that wanted more consideration given to low-power consumption and VoIP capabilities, consumer electronics manufacturers that wanted the standard to accommodate more than access points, and the major hardware network and chip manufacturers that wanted to put the 802.11n spec on a fast track to approval, the report said.
Products conforming to version 1.10, it is claimed, will be compatible with pre-802.11n products already on the market. McFarland was quoted saying that only a minor firmware upgrade would be required to ensure complete compatibility.
However while the functional specification might be finalised full approval will take some time and is not expected before early 2008.