New PowerMacs: Wireless Firewire

[jazzman45]

Yup, maybe not for a while, but check this out:

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040511S0001

Who's the chairman of IEEE 1394 (firewire)?

Eric Anderson of Apple. So chances are this will come out and be pretty kick ass.

-Tyler

 

[BrianKonarsMac]

so what is the benefit of Firewire over 802.11 over 802.11 itself? this seems extremelely redundant to me, can someone please explain?

 

[jazzman45]

802.11b =11 Mbps
802.11g =54 Mbps
Firewire =400 Mbps

I would assume that to be Firewire, it's got to be pretty fast...maybe not 400 like the wired...but still pretty fast

 

[superbovine]

http://www.ieee802.org/15/

 

[PaisanoMan]

so what is the benefit of Firewire over 802.11 over 802.11 itself? this seems extremelely redundant to me, can someone please explain?

Read the article. They're not trying to use FireWire over 802.11x, but extend the protocol (IEEE1394) to a wireless standard as well.

If this becomes standard, it'll mean wireless DV capture from a camcorder (presumably at least at 400 Mbps). I wouldn't count on this stuff appearing for a long while, though ...

 

[thatwendigo]

Here's the big deal... Traditional networking, like TCP/IP, uses packet-oriented content and it can come out of order when dealing with media like video and audio, and that's part of what causes stuttering when streaming across the internet or a LAN. IEEE 1394 (known as FireWire and iLink in its physical incarnation), does not do this. It sends data sequentially and without the need for packet wrappers if you're doing audio or video content, and so the only stutter will be if your connection hiccups.

The reason 1394 on wireless would be great is that it would allow the same streaming behavior as you get from the link now, only without wires. That's it.