Intel Demos Wireless USB Car Entertainment

Intel also made an appearance at the WiMedia TechZone this CES with their own technology demo, showing off a portable media player outfitted with Wireless USB that was able to stream flawless video to the entertainment center built into a Mercedez-Benz SUV. While only a proof-of-concept at this point, the Intel rep said that they were in heavy contact with the aftermarket companies such as Pioneer and Kenwood, so Wireless USB-equipped mobile video may see the light of day after all. An interesting note, the MPEG-2 video being streamed only consumed 18Mbps out of the 80Mbps the chipset was capable of supporting, leaving plenty of headroom for other wireless applications in the same vehicle, and this limit will almost certainly increase as newer chipset revisions come out. (Wireless USB's 480Mbps specification is only theoretical, just as 802.11g's actual bandwidth rarely breaks 25Mbps when it's theoretical limit is 54Mbps.)

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