The Wi-Fi Alliance have just unveiled a new way to establish a peer to peer connection without the use of a wireless router or having to find a Wi-Fi hotspot, which could potentially catapult Bluetooth into the history books.
The new “Wi-Fi Direct” technology that is likely to revolutionise the way we use Wi-Fi could be available as soon as the middle of next year.
“Wi-Fi Direct represents a leap forward for our industry. Wi-Fi users worldwide will benefit from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications quickly and easily among devices, even when a Wi-Fi access point isn’t available,” said Wi-Fi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa.
“The impact is that Wi-Fi will become even more pervasive and useful for consumers and across the enterprise.”
So how will Wi-Fi direct impact on Bluetooth?
Well, basically, Wi-Fi direct will be able to connect to devices in the same way that Bluetooth does except over much longer ranges than what can be achieved with Bluetooth at the moment.
This won’t come without its drawbacks of course, nothing ever does. In this case the issue is a big one though as it concerns security.
Most of us are familiar with the concept of Bluejacking, which is where someone can connect anonymously to another device via Bluetooth and if the device isn’t secure, can hijack their system.
However, as Bluetooth only has a short range extending to around 20 feet or so, you have to be in close proximity of the device to be able to do it, which in itself is a bit of a deterrent.
The longer ranges provided by W-Fi direct means that someone could potentially connect to another device even though they are not nearby. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that this will increase the risk quite significantly.
Establishing a connection will also be easier as only one device needs to be Wi-Fi Direct compliant. Imagine being able to connect a Wi-Fi direct enabled mobile phone to a non Wi-Fi direct enabled laptop. The implications of this are enormous.
The Wi-Fi Alliance are totally aware of the security issues so some sort of protected access will be included, however, whether it will be able to prevent unauthorized access is likely to depend on whether a particular user is security conscious or complacent.
The ultimate question is this. Will anyone have a need for Bluetooth after Wi-Fi Direct makes its debut?
Probably not!
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