Interop 2009: Wireless Highlights from the Show Floor

While I work primarily on the Mobile Business Conference at Interop, there are always a few interesting items to be found at the Expo, aka the show floor. The event appeared quite well-attended, and at times even crowded, a bit surprising given the downbeat economy. And, being an omnibus networking event, one had to dig a little to get to the wireless stuff - but I found a few interesting items, as follows:

- Arada - If anyone still doubts that Wi-Fi is going to play a role in RFID, take a look at Arada's LocAir active tag. I stand by my earlier prediction - this is a huge opportunity.

- Aruba - Wi-Fi leader Aruba Networks announced a robust line of branch-office solutions (the new 600 Series) and promptly won a Best of Interop Award in the Wireless and Mobility category. These products can serve as entry points for smaller organizations, or as members of a hierarchy for larger enterprises. Included is a clever pocket-sized .11g AP (the RAP-2), which lists for just $99 and extends the edge of the enterprise network to just about anywhere at an amazingly-low price.

- Cisco - The big guy continued their emphasis on applications with the announcement of a new Mobility Services Engine (the 3310), new teleworking capabilities (OfficeExtend), and a new mobility-centric developer program. I think this is a very smart strategy, as networks are after all just a vehicle to implement applications, and selling more applications (or a path to get to more applications) is a great way to build demand for networks themselves. Cisco also announced a new .11n-focused controller (the 5500) and Mesh AP (the 1524).

- Motorola - Motorola's T3 (not to be confused with the 45 Mbps carrier-grade technology of the same name) announcement, an addition to their Ethernet/PoE-over-telephone wire PowerBroadband product line, was very impressive. The idea here is to retrofit buildings - most notably hotels - that have CAT-1 installed with real Ethernet performance at up to 75 Mbps and no new wires. They also showed a .11b/g wallplate that integrates with the system, providing instant wireless deployment. Wallplate APs are also available from Ortronics (who were also at the show), and I think you'll be seeing a few more of these shortly. But Motorola provides a nice solution for older buildings that don't want to add new wiring - and there are a lot of these on the planet.

- Xirrus - Wi-Fi array vendor Xirrus gets the award for best marketing, with their "Melee at the Mandalay " boxing ring. Yes, they set up a full-size, regulation, certified boxing ring with real boxers and even Miss Nevada holding up the Round signs. Needless to say, they brought in the crowds, and it was nice to see this kind of old-fashioned, in-your-face (so to speak) marketing during what many perceived was a down year. But, as I said, the expo floor was busy, and there were a lot of vendors present regardless.

I always have a great time in Las Vegas, and I always enjoy this show. But it consequently always takes me a few days to get my feet back on the ground after a week of full-contact wireless. There's been a lot going on in this space beyond Interop over the past few weeks, and I'll have a lot more for you shortly.

• Wireless / Mobile
• Arada
• Aruba
• Cisco
• Interop 2009
• Mobile Business Conference
• Motorola
• Ortronics
• Xirrus