Microsft unveils hardware for wireless networking

By Reed Stevenson

SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp., eager to spread its software and services throughout the home, has set its sights on a new market: wireless home networking. The world's biggest software maker said on Thursday that it will begin selling within the next few weeks Microsoft-branded hardware that will let users connect their personal computers and notebooks through wireless connections using the 802.11b standard, also called Wi-Fi.

"The overall strategic vision is to get into anything to do with Microsoft's vision of delivering information any time, any place," said Adam LeVasseur, the hardware division's Group Product Manager. "To deliver that into the home you need a network infrastructure in place."

Wireless networking has increasingly become an important part of the Internet experience, allowing users to access e-mail, news and information without being tied to a desk. Users have complained, however, about the complexity of wireless networking, which involves a variety of hardware, communications and security settings. Microsoft, maker of the Windows, the world's most-used operating system, says it has an answer for that.

"At the core of our (wireless) product line is software that detects hardware and automatically configures the network," LeVasseur said. Microsoft said that the software will make it painless for users of its hardware products to install a wireless network and connect a variety of devices.

The following products are being released-

-- A Wireless base station that hooks up to a broadband connection and links wireless devices to each other and the Internet, for $149.95.

-- A Wireless Universal Serial Bus Adapter to connect a computer or device through a USB port, for $79.95.

-- A Wireless Notebook Adapter, for connecting laptops through PC card slots, for $79.95.

-- Two kits, with a base station and either a USB adapter or notebook adapter, for $219.95 each.

-- Five Ethernet-based products that connect computers to each other and the Internet through wire connections, ranging in price from $24.95 to $79.95.

The products will feature 128-bit encryption by default and also feature parental controls that limit access, LeVasseur said.

Microsoft, which is seeking new growth outside the slowing PC market, already sells a variety of Microsoft-branded hardware products such as its keyboards, mice and Xbox video game machine. Xbox, which is set to become an online gaming platform this fall with the launch of Xbox Live, needs a high-speed broadband connection to link into the Internet and other users.

Since the Xbox is often in a living room, sometimes far away from a broadband connection, wireless networking would seem a simple solution for enabling Xbox Live. But LeVasseur said that there were no plans to directly tie Xbox up with the new wireless hardware.

© Reuters