Comments on: SyChip Announces Low Power Wi-Fi SD Card

SyChip, the ODM behind the current SanDisk Wi-Fi card, has announced a new low power WiFi SDIO card. The new card is optimized for PDA's and Smartphones where power and battery life is at a premium.

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Interesting

chinchorrero @ 1/8/2004 7:32:59 PM #

Interesting product.
Maybe in 2005
Cheers

"Life is Too Short"
Tungsten T3-Sony ericsson T610,HBH-60,SanDisk 256Mb Sd Card

actually for Palm OS?

calebj14 @ 1/8/2004 7:33:14 PM #

Okay, Okay, I'm ready to be deflated, again. Is the card or isn't the card for Palm OS?

Caleb

---------------------------------
Once, I used a PC- then I grew up
---------------------------------
m515>Tungsten C (hopefully coming soon!)

RE: actually for Palm OS?

Admin @ 1/8/2004 7:36:15 PM #

It IS for multiple OS-es including the Palm OS. The drivers should be "complete" by March, I was told.

-Ryan

RE: actually for Palm OS?

allemande @ 1/8/2004 8:05:12 PM #

>> Okay, Okay, I'm ready to be deflated, again. Is the card or isn't the card for Palm OS? <<<

Sychip doesn't make the card, they just make the chip. Companies such as Sandisk and Socket makes the card.

RE: actually for Palm OS?

abosco @ 1/8/2004 8:33:18 PM #

>>Sychip doesn't make the card, they just make the chip. Companies such as Sandisk and Socket makes the card.

Thanks ska. That's true though, which means we'll still be waiting for months until ScamDisk comes out with the Palm OS drivers. I don't know what to believe - is it the not-yet-struck deal with PalmSource, is it the power requirements, is it Microsoft influence - who knows!

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616

RE: actually for Palm OS?

Wollombi @ 1/9/2004 4:12:05 AM #

Actually, reading the article it sounds like the drivers are incorporated in this card. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what Ryan wrote, but it would be nice to have a "true" plug and play card. And SanDicks wouldn't have to write a driver then.

_________________
Sean

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

drivers, drivers, drivers ....

Token User @ 1/8/2004 7:38:24 PM #

OK, SanDisk has an SD WiFi card too (or was it made by these guys anyway?), but the question still comes down to drivers. OS4 perhaps? (my wife would love that - Kyo 7135 /w WiFi ... nice combination).

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

RE: drivers, drivers, drivers ....

Analytical @ 1/9/2004 4:54:53 AM #

There is an article on the site which says that Palm OS4 will be supported.

http://www.sychip.com/wlan-module.html

I guess we just sit back now and wait and see what happens. Then when they release the card no doubt it will cost a fortune.

I think I am going to hang on till the OS 6 devices with Wifi integrated start to come out then I might just upgrade my M505.

Mike

RE: drivers, drivers, drivers ....

mikeyts @ 1/21/2004 8:59:33 AM #

That was an article on their original WiFi SD chip design, the 6060SD. The new one is the 6065SD. The press release here http://www.sychip.com/PUB/6065SDrelease%20FINAL.pdf states that it will be support OS5.2 and higher.

SanDisk

DWD @ 1/8/2004 9:11:18 PM #

Great, another product SanDisk can...not...ship for Palm OS.

Announced......

bsquare @ 1/8/2004 9:14:40 PM #

Is it just me or is anyone else sick and tired of products being "Announced" and actual shipment being an optional followup? (see SanDisk SD 802.11b, 1GB SD, Palm 1MP SD Camera...)

So we'll see this thing, what, 4th Qtr this year maybe?

RE: Announced......

sgingras @ 1/9/2004 12:26:46 AM #

Yes, I agree. I'd prefer to hold off on these stories until Ryan can write one along the lines, "Acme Rockets _ships_ WiFi SD card with integrated 256MB RAM...and it's in my Palm now...in fact, I am typing this story on my Palm and transmitting it wirelessly...really I am..."

Until then, my interest meter is at zero.

cheers,
Steve

RE: Announced......

abosco @ 1/9/2004 12:34:00 AM #

>>Until then, my interest meter is at zero.

Even after the rumor of two new Palm handhelds at low prices including images, OS 6 going Golden Master and being shipped to licensees with multitasking and support for multiple resolutions, and all the announcements at CES? Geez, talk about hard to satisfy. These companies write up press releases specifically for this purpose - these sites post them to get the word out, it's their job.

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616

RE: Announced......

bsquare @ 1/9/2004 8:00:05 AM #

Sure, but they never come out and say "We'll be shipping within the next month" or "Pick it up on your way out!" it's always "Here's a concept we have and it should be out later this year or maybe next. Now, would you like to buy some stock right now instead?"

I honestly would prefer the Steve Jobs aproach of keep it a secret until the last moment and it's shipping that day or in a month or so. At least Apple tries to hide the rumors, these guys are just suppliing the rumos themselves.

RE: Announced......

Token User @ 1/9/2004 11:20:17 AM #

Is it just me or is anyone else sick and tired of products being "Announced" and actual shipment being an optional followup? (see SanDisk SD 802.11b, 1GB SD, Palm 1MP SD Camera...)

Actually, the 1MP SD Camera Palm announced was released - it just wasn't rebranded by Palm as a Palm product. It is actually the Veo 1.3MP in the article that preceeded this one.

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

Low power = low range?

Scott R @ 1/9/2004 1:22:21 AM #

So what's the range going to be on this thing? 12 inches? AFAIK, the existing SDIO Wi-Fi card has gotten slammed for poor range. If this thing's lower power, I'm not hopeful that it will be any better, and could be much worse. :(

Scott

http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

RE: Low power = low range?

Wollombi @ 1/9/2004 4:14:59 AM #

Seeing as we don't yet have a PalmOS WiFi card out there yet, how can anyone judge the range of it? If you're referring to the PPC version, it wouldn't necessarily represent PalmOS performance.

I'm waiting to see an actual product in action before I pass any judgements.

_________________
Sean

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

RE: Low power = low range?

allemande @ 1/9/2004 11:34:21 AM #

yeah the PalmOS one uses different electromagnetic wave, it can travel farther than the one PPC uses.

RE: Low power = low range?

talos4 @ 1/9/2004 2:46:58 PM #

Wrong again ska, as usual.

Wi-Fi supports dynamic power management, which means that you can adjust the output power of the amplifier dynamically to conserve power. The custom power amplifiers used in the SD card are externally (to the PA) controlled by the controller on the card. Which in turn means that power-management is a DRIVER function.

It is entirely possible that the PalmOS driver implementation could result in a different result. In any case, the better power perfomance of POS in general will allow the driver authors to be less conservative with the power, allowing better performance.

-R

----------------------------------------
"Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity"
-- Richard Feynman.

RE: Low power = low range?

talos4 @ 1/9/2004 2:46:58 PM #

Wrong again ska, as usual.

-R

----------------------------------------
"Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity"
-- Richard Feynman.

RE: Low power = low range?

talos4 @ 1/9/2004 2:46:58 PM #

Wrong again ska, as usual.

-R

----------------------------------------
"Never ascribe to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity"
-- Richard Feynman.

RE: Low power = low range?

allemande @ 1/9/2004 5:59:13 PM #

so you are claiming POS has better driver than PPC's and sandisk/socket doesn't have a clue how to write power management for PPC devices?

right okay. well, why don't you show us POS driver first before making tall claim how POS driver is going to be more advance and the transmitter can have better range.

RE: Low power = low range?

abosco @ 1/10/2004 2:54:24 AM #

Ska, you friggin' ignorant fool, you need to quit your incessant trolling. It's so annoying. Talos said this:

>>It is entirely possible that...

POSSIBLE. Not definite, just possible. You responded with this:

>>making tall claim how POS driver is going to be more advance and the transmitter can have better range.

Ugh, and then you wonder why we don't like you.

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616

RE: Low power = low range?

mikecane @ 1/10/2004 5:12:11 PM #

He *doesn't* wonder. He doesn't have a frikkin clue!

RE: Low power = low range?

talos4 @ 1/10/2004 8:01:01 PM #

You don't want to get me started on how the MS networking stack is uniquely *unsuited* to low power wireless devices.

RE: Low power = low range?

allemande @ 1/10/2004 11:52:22 PM #

as oppose to POS networking stack? he now there's a novel idea. POS networking stack.

Tallying up our WIFI options...

jciao @ 1/9/2004 8:17:23 PM #

So if and when this card is available, we will have 3 viable options for WIFI:

1)Guyver
2)Enfora Case
3) Sychip rebrand

I'm looking forward to seeing what the power consumption is like, if they build in memory and if it sticks out of the slot.

Has the price on the Guyver & Enfora dropped at all since they were released?

RE: Tallying up our WIFI options...

djeaux @ 1/12/2004 10:22:14 AM #

What "Guyver"? The hotsync.com.hk website shows no price for the RV Tec sled, their online store has been "temporarily down" for a couple months & I've yet to find a vendor that actually stocks 'em. Expansys Italia shows a listing but if you click thru, you'll find it's "lined out".

If you could buy a Guyver, you'd find it priced (without the required CF wi-fi card) at slightly more than a new Tungsten E anyway.

In short, if you want wi-fi on a Palm with a universal connector, you have to use the Enfora case. I'm not holding my breath for the alleged SanDisk wi-fi card or the current "low power" chipset.

is it hardware-based?

mingkee @ 1/18/2004 5:21:58 PM #

the current SanDisk SD wireless LAN card is soft-wlan (like winmodem), which requires a lot of CPU to run wlan job
that's why no palm driver (perhaps sychip acknowledges palm's CPU is not powerful to run, except TT3)
just wondering this new wlan chip is hardware or software based, if it's former, prepare some money to buy it, bcoz this one'll be palm-compatible for sure, even os4 (hardware-based wlan don't need CPU to run the job, that means even os4 can run easily)

Zodiac1 or TT3 will be my second palm
palm version realone sucks!!!
no streaming audio support...