Microsoft, HP, Dell bolster wireless

Wireless technologies were bolstered on several fronts last week as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell detailed plans to inject products with Bluetooth and WLAN, and wireless services providers aligned to add hot spots.

Microsoft announced WPS (Wireless Provisioning Services), which aims to help users connect to WLAN hot spots more easily and securely. WPS consists of server software used by telecommunication providers on the back end, and client software on mobile devices.

HP enhanced a raft of upgraded products — iPaqs, a Tablet PC, notebooks, and mobile workstations — by arming them with Bluetooth and WLAN support. 

Dell introduced new Axim PDAs, including a model with an integrated 802.11b wireless chip. Unlike HP’s latest PDAs, Axims do not include Bluetooth support, but they have a smaller price tag, Dell said.

As the cost of adding wireless connectivity decreases, vendors will include the technology in just about everything, one analyst said.

“Bluetooth will be everywhere,” said Todd Kort, an analyst at Gartner. Wireless will be  in standard desktops, notebooks, and PDAs,  as well as low-cost models, Kort said. 

At the same time, InfoNet and Boingo joined forces to extend the coverage of InfoNet’s wireless MobileXpress service to more than 5,000 hot spots. The companies will incorporate hot-spot and security technology using SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) in new client software, which will be  available in early 2004.