After years as a niche technology, 60GHz technology is set to become a mass market solution ABI Research reports-- with annual enabled device shipments to exceed 1 billion units by 2017.

Driving such growth is the linking of the WiGig and Wifi Alliances and the forthcoming ratification of the 802.11ad standard, both advancements encouraging wifi IC vendors to add 11ad to future tri-band solutions (as in 11n/11ac/11ad).

Many describe 802.11ad as the next step for wifi, after 11ac.

Vendor partnerships are also bearing fruit-- the Wilocity-Qualcomm Atheros team up paved the way to more WiGig/802.11ad devices, such as the first ultrabook from Dell carrying the technology.

ABI expects mobile devices to be the next market embracing the technology, primarily for media streaming between TVs. Growing 11ad adoption from smartphones will give rise to further adoption from connected home equipment, driving the market from external solutions (such as dongles) to integrated solutions.

"We expect a significant amount of consolidation in the market over the next 18 months as the 11ad market starts to take off,” ABI adds. “In some instances, smaller 60GHz technology focused companies will be swallowed up by the dominant wireless connectivity suppliers, others will be driven out of the market or at least into the margins as 11ad becomes an established technology, but without a push from the big guys the market will fail to gain traction.”

Go 60GHz Technology, 11ad Driving Market Growth (ABI Research)

CEDIA releases the 3rd white paper in the Mobile Devices in Residential Systems Integration series-- "Using Mobile Devices as a Control Platform."

The white paper tackles the use of mobile devices within control applications, and provides guidance on design considerations in integration and automation with mobile devices.

Both high-end and budget-conscious customers increasingly demand the integration of mobile devices into integrated systems-- making it a must for installers to learn how to do exactly that.

“Many consumers want to use a device they are familiar with, such as a smartphone or tablet to control their home,” CEDIA says. “This can sometimes be challenging to integrate, but the considerations outlined in this white paper can help dealers create a seamless control experience.”

The white paper is now available free of charge for Region 1 CEDIA members.

Go Using Mobile Devices as a Control Platform

The European Commission (EC) pushes for "more dynamic sharing" of licensed and unlicensed frequencies in the radio spectrum-- a proposal potentially bringing more capacity to wifi and other wireless technologies.

"Meeting the growing spectrum needs resulting from the exponential growth in wireless data traffic and the increasing importance of wireless connectivity in the economy is limited by the absence of vacant spectrum," the EC proposal says.

Wifi devices operate within the unlicensed 2.4GHz (802.11 b/g) and 5GHz (802.11a, 802.11n) space, which will get more capacity should the proposal be successful. Frequences in use by short range devices (such as 863-870MHz) might also be expanded.

The EC demands national EU regulators to encourage spectrum sharing, all while offering "guaranteed rights" and "investment incentives" to providers and incumbents sharing licensed frequencies.

The initiative kicks off once it goes through the European Council and Parliament, meaning it still has a long way to go-- but it should be an important step towards more harmony within European radio spectrum.

Go Digital Agenda: Maximising Radio Spectrum Efficiency by Sharing it

Broadcom announces the BCM4335-- the "first complete 5G wifi combo chip" for mobile applications, combining 802.11ac wifi, Bluetooth 4.0 and FM radio on the same silicon die.

According to the company the chip handles speeds x3 faster than existing wifi radios (reaching up to 433Mbps) with x6 more power efficiency than current 802.11n solutions.

Being platform-agnostic, vendors can add the chip to any smartphone, tablet or ultrabook.

The BCM4335 should be available from Q1 2013 once it exists "full sample phase."

Go Broadcom Introduces 5G Wifi Combo Chip for Smartphones and Tablets