NetStumbler

TI Predicts Rapid ZigBee Adoption

Eliza Villarino — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:52:00 +0000

Texas Instruments sees rapid adoption of its ZigBee products in 2008. According to the company, its Z-Stack, whose CC2420 transceiver and CC2430 System-on-a-Chip (SoC) have obtained certification, gained Golden Unit status, indicating that it is the first platform to implement the newest ZigBee version and get clearance from one of two ZigBee qualified testing labs. Michael Lanz, WW Precision Analog’s marketing manager for TI’s High Performance Analog and Semiconductor Group, believes that, despite the delay in implementing and deploying Zigbee — this has been around since November 2003 — the standard will create a robust application sector that can develop into other areas of wireless remote control, which remain unexplored.
Via [wirelessweek.com]

ZigBee Alliance Updates Standard

Eliza Villarino — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 08:11:00 +0000

The ZigBee Alliance is updating its standard, which promises more choice and control. The update is designed to stop a single point-of-failure on the network and enables OEMs to generate groups of devices while letting individual devices to belong to multiple groups. The enhanced Zigbee, which the company plans to release to the public in the first quarter of next year, offers support for over-the-air (OTA) setup, and broadcasts of commands such as “awake” or “sleeping” for various devices to decrease RAM requirements.
Via [wirelessweek.com]

Ember Raises $12M

Sherry Jones — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 09:30:00 +0000

ZigBee, a wireless technology standard that relies on low-power, low data-rate chips to automate electronic devices, is helping Boston-based Ember raise enough revenue to meet the demand for the chips. Homes and businesses use the chips for everyday appliances, inventory management, and monitoring systems; roughly 10 billion microcontrollers are installed in everyday items each year. With a possible $1 billion in sales by 2010, the ZigBee market has attracted a slew of competitors who will undoubtedly battle it out with Ember for the lion’s share.
Via [redherring.com]

ZigBee Startup Takes Money Raised To $65 Million

RenderMan — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 11:43:00 +0000

Ember Corp, a ZigBee start up has raised another $12 million for a total venture capital investment of $65 Million. ZigBee technology (Short range wireless connectivity) is expected to be $1 billion between 2008 and 2010. Ember Corp seems to be in a good position to become a player.
Via [eetimes.com]

Airbee Wireless Deepens Commitment To ZigBee

Wayne Slavin — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:02:00 +0000

Airbee Wireless is aiming to make ZigBee implementation a bit easier for OEMs through the creation of a new business services unit that will focus on assisting in application development, protocol stack feature modification and network deployment support.
Via [wirelessweek.com]

IBM’s WPAN Chipset Aims To Replace High-Def Cables, Bluetooth

Wayne Slavin — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 08:11:00 +0000

The breakthrough bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS) chip announced today by IBM at the International Solid State Circuits Conference may be exactly what the IEEE had in mind when it convened task force 802.15.3c in March of last year. But the chip that would make it possible for high-definition CE devices to stream content between each other at gigabit speeds, may face an uphill challenge over the next three years, as IBM campaigns for it to become the backbone of the future wireless broadband home network.
Via [tgdaily.com]

ZigBee Interoperability ‘Not A Problem’

Wayne Slavin — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 09:07:00 +0000

Zigbee products will hit the market this year and a lack of interoperability testing of the technology will not be a problem, according to Freescale Semiconductor.
Via [electronicsweekly.com]

TI Completes $200M ZigBee Acqusition

Wayne Slavin — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 10:10:00 +0000

Texas Instruments Inc. has added a ZigBee play to its portfolio of high performance analog chips with the completion of its acquisition of Chipcon.
Via [reed-electronics.com]

ZigBee Bursts Onto Wireless PAN

Wayne Slavin — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 10:48:00 +0000

Products based on ZigBee – the low power, mesh radio technology – will come on tap this year and make a big impact in industrial controls, according to demos at the IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium this week.
Via [theregister.co.uk]

Cisco Takes ‘Strategic’ Stake In Home Networking Group

Wayne Slavin — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:52:00 +0000

Cisco has made a ‘strategic investment’ in home control specialist Zensys. The network giant’s interest is directed towards Zensys’ Z-Wave wireless home control technology.
Via [eet.com]

Ember, ST Team For ZigBee Chip Platforms

Wayne Slavin — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 10:48:00 +0000

ST Microelectronics and Ember Corporation have teamed to develop complete solutions, including hardware, software and tools, for the fast growing ZigBee wireless networking market.
Via [eetimes.com]

Cisco: Zensys Investment Stymies ZigBee’s Progress

Wayne Slavin — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:05:00 +0000

Cisco Systems has revealed that it is making an undisclosed investment in Zensys, developer of the Z-Wave wireless mesh networking technology. While this move is a huge fillip for Zensys, it constitutes a setback for the development of the standards-based ZigBee protocol to which Z-Wave is an alternative.
Via [cbronline.com]

ZigBee Alliance To Certify Product Compliance

Wayne Slavin — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 10:50:00 +0000

The ZigBee Alliance said Thursday that it would begin designating products as “ZigBee Certified” to ensure that they are fully interoperable “out of box” and can easily enter into a ZigBee network.
Via [eetimes.com]

INSTEON Wants To Control Your Home

Wayne Slavin — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 10:59:00 +0000

Move over, Zigbee and Z-Wave. A new contender has thrown its hat in the ring.
Via [wi-fiplanet.com]

Partnership Adds ZigBee Stack For Asia

Wayne Slavin — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 10:25:00 +0000

Jennic is working with Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry (III) to provide a ZigBee stack on its JN5121 microcontroller for Asia-Pacific market.
Via [eetuk.com]