'Wi-Fi Direct' to Simplify Peer-to-Peer Wireless Networking

This is a cool step in the right direction toward total interconnectivity. Now if the tech gurus could just make an easy way to send large files over the net then we'd be all set.

i think this is what apple was waiting for.

good code name

This story has to be grossly over simplified, because ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks have existed ever since Wi-Fi was created.

I'm pretty sure they mean a zero-config protocol, and not just ad-hoc.

So in the case a network tower is down, they can possibly use this to form a vast web of interconnected phones.

I wonder how you manage security when your company no longer has a single WDS service for it's whole area, and every single employee has a Wi-Fi phone turned on and you're sitting in your office, trying to wade through the 50 wireless networks thanks to this new development.

Perhaps this would allow wireless iPhone syncing? That would be great. :)

So: Are my 2009 MBP and iPhone 3G among the "hundreds of millions of Wi-Fi CERTIFIED legacy devices already in use" on which this function can be implemented with software? When did apple begin producing devices so certified (assuming it has)?

I've been playing with a new toy called SONOS, it's a multi-zone wireless music distribution system for your house. It brings along its own proprietary wireless network which is based on 802.11n. From my understanding, it's a mesh network, meaning each unit acts as a repeater for the whole network. The more units you have going, the stronger the signal to each one (as it talks to its neighboring unit, and not necessarily the wireless router) and in so doing you also increase the range of your total network every time you add a node.

Although that particular implementation is proprietary to the Sonos units (you can't attach your laptop to the mesh network), it certainly is a neat concept and it would be cool if regular devices could do it too. I suppose it would be a security issue for public places though, but imagine a coffee shop or airport lounge where the MORE iPhones and laptops were in use, the stronger the overall network was.

now this would be sweet. i hope this is heavily adopted

I've been playing with a new toy called SONOS, it's a multi-zone wireless music distribution system for your house. It brings along its own proprietary wireless network which is based on 802.11n. From my understanding, it's a mesh network, meaning each unit acts as a repeater for the whole network. The more units you have going, the stronger the signal to each one (as it talks to its neighboring unit, and not necessarily the wireless router) and in so doing you also increase the range of your total network every time you add a node.

Although that particular implementation is proprietary to the Sonos units (you can't attach your laptop to the mesh network), it certainly is a neat concept and it would be cool if regular devices could do it too. I suppose it would be a security issue for public places though, but imagine a coffee shop or airport lounge where the MORE iPhones and laptops were in use, the stronger the overall network was.

WDS (wiki) has been around for a while, and most routers today can serve that function. And as I said above, it would be nasty if everyone managed to create networks of their own, and as you drive down the street you'll be picking up other people's walking around, other people's from their phone in their car etc.