Quantcast
Subscribe to magazine

Cell Phone Maker Calls on USB

USB-on-the-Go technology will allow peer-to-peer and direct connections between phones and other devices--without a PC.

Ephraim Schwartz, InfoWorld.com

  • 0 Yes
  • 0 No

Qualcomm announced this week that it will license the intellectual property for USB-on-the-Go from TransDimension.

USB-on-the-Go, also known as OTG, is a portable supplement to the USB 2.0 specification that allows a peer-to-peer or direct connection among USB devices without a PC as intermediary.

When integrated into a handset, users would be able to connect their phones to USB printers, portable keyboards, CD-ROM drives, MP3 players, and digital cameras among the hundreds of other USB devices now available.

Get Connected

In addition, a USB connection will give users the ability to synchronize cell phone data with handhelds as well as use the cell phone as a modem when attached to a handheld that does not have integrated wireless.

Although most hardware devices require unique hardware specific drivers, USB divides peripherals into four classes: human input, audio, mass storage, and communications. Any device that includes one of these class drivers can talk directly to any device in that category using OTG, according to David Murray, vice president of marketing at TransDimension, in Irvine, California.

The licensing deal will see Qualcomm include OTG technology as part of its standard 3G chipsets. The MSM6500 and MSM6250 Mobile Station Modem chipsets are for use in GSM, GPRS, WCDMA, and CDMA 2000 handsets.

Full Featured

With the exception of screen size and memory, cell phones may soon be as feature rich as any mobile handheld device.

The Qualcomm chipsets include a broad array of features including Secure Digital, voice recognition, 2D/3D graphics acceleration, MPEG-4 encoder/decoder, JPEG encoder/decoder, Bluetooth base band processor, and USB On-the-Go.

Currently, Qualcomm ships about 70 million CDMA chipsets per year and estimates about 15 million will be 3G chipsets in the fourth quarter. The MSM6500 and MSM6250 chipsets will ship in the second quarter of 2003.

One industry analyst said that the prevalence of USB on most devices will bring greater standardization among peripherals.

Bypassing Bluetooth?

"Bluetooth is an important connection technology but [OTG] makes it far easier for most of the device manufacturers to support," said David Hayden, president of MobileWeek in Palo Alto, California.

TransDimension is shipping its OTG single chip chipset solution now which is currently incorporated into the Samsung Nexio device, a converged PDA and cell phone.

Murray believes that USB On-the-Go technology will compete directly, and favorably, with Bluetooth solutions, estimating that there are about 1.3 billion devices all ready enabled with USB.

"USB didn't take off until Intel supported it in its chipset. Qualcomm supporting USB On-the-Go in its chipset is the equivalent," Murray said.

For more IT analysis and commentary on emerging technologies, visit InfoWorld.com. Story copyright © 2007 InfoWorld Media Group. All rights reserved.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Print 65% more pages than with refilled inks. Trust Original HP Inks. Hit Print Reliably.

Featured APC Accessories For Your System
10% Off Entire Cart at Online Store

  • APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
  • APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

People who read this also read:

  • 2007 Microsoft Office Suites Comparison This paper compares and contrasts four suites of the 2007 Microsoft Office system: Microsoft Office Standard 2007, Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007. This paper is intended to help organizations understand the applications and capabilities offered, and to identify the suite that best fits their needs.
  • Windows Vista Migration: The Business Proposition It's not so much a matter of "if" but "when" for most organizations regarding migration to Windows Vista. Laying the groundwork now for this migration can yield higher ROI than waiting until later. This Computerworld Technology Briefing explains it all.

PC World's Marketplace