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Motorola working on wireless game products
Los Angeles, July 26: Wireless technology giant Motorola is working with major video game companies to develop chips that would allow gamers to play each other on wireless networks at home, it said on Wednesday.
Los Angeles, July 26: Wireless technology giant Motorola is working with major video game companies to develop chips that would allow gamers to play each other on wireless networks at home, it said on Wednesday.
Motorola is readying production of new technology it believes could make untethered gaming cheaper, faster and able to run at lower power without the annoying delays common to wireless networks, a company representative said. "We're engaged with all the key gaming companies to understand their needs and their market requirements," Motorola Spokesman Steve Howard said. "Gaming is obviously one of our key market spaces."
The three major console manufacturers -- Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo -- are all launching online gameplay for their consoles in the next few months.
Representatives of the three rivals could not immediately comment on the technology effort. From Motorola's perspective, the challenge of building a next-generation, wireless gaming system is the need for low power, low cost, and perhaps most importantly, very low "latency," or small fractions of a second between the sending of a packet of data and the receipt of a response.
Most of the current wireless Internet products have higher latency times than gamers will accept, but Howard said Motorola's chipset would reduce those waiting periods.
The new technology uses the unlicensed 2.4 gigahertz radio spectrum, but stands apart from the other wireless data protocols are developed in that spectrum, Bluetooth and 802.11, Howard said. "The idea is to be able to have that technology work in conjunction with some of the other standards being developed," he said.
A chipset based on the technology was first announced in May by Motorola. The chips, expected to go into full production in the current quarter, will allow for data transfers of up to 5 megabits per second at a range of up to 15 meters.
Video gaming has become major business. US sales of hardware and software topped $9 billion in 2001, and the global sales tally is expected to pass $30 billion in 2002.
According to the Interactive Digital Software Association, 31 per cent of frequent video game players engage in some sort of online gameplay. Bureau Report
Motorola is readying production of new technology it believes could make untethered gaming cheaper, faster and able to run at lower power without the annoying delays common to wireless networks, a company representative said. "We're engaged with all the key gaming companies to understand their needs and their market requirements," Motorola Spokesman Steve Howard said. "Gaming is obviously one of our key market spaces."
The three major console manufacturers -- Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo -- are all launching online gameplay for their consoles in the next few months.
Representatives of the three rivals could not immediately comment on the technology effort. From Motorola's perspective, the challenge of building a next-generation, wireless gaming system is the need for low power, low cost, and perhaps most importantly, very low "latency," or small fractions of a second between the sending of a packet of data and the receipt of a response.
Most of the current wireless Internet products have higher latency times than gamers will accept, but Howard said Motorola's chipset would reduce those waiting periods.
The new technology uses the unlicensed 2.4 gigahertz radio spectrum, but stands apart from the other wireless data protocols are developed in that spectrum, Bluetooth and 802.11, Howard said. "The idea is to be able to have that technology work in conjunction with some of the other standards being developed," he said.
A chipset based on the technology was first announced in May by Motorola. The chips, expected to go into full production in the current quarter, will allow for data transfers of up to 5 megabits per second at a range of up to 15 meters.
Video gaming has become major business. US sales of hardware and software topped $9 billion in 2001, and the global sales tally is expected to pass $30 billion in 2002.
According to the Interactive Digital Software Association, 31 per cent of frequent video game players engage in some sort of online gameplay. Bureau Report