Wireless technologies
Wireless communication technologies have changed a lot throughout the years. From the photophone to the GPS, wireless communication is ever changing.
The beginning of wireless communication technologies started with the photophone in 1880 created by Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Tainter. This was a telephone through which you could have conversations over light beams wirelessly and marked the advent of wireless tech.
Marconi was the first person to transmit a radio signal across the Atlantic. The advent of the radio was when the term wireless became known to the public.
The most common application of wireless technologies now are cell phones. With over 4 billion different cellphone subscriptions around the world, mobile phones are the most pervasive and well known use of wireless communication technologies. Mobile phones utilize radio waves to allow customers to communicate with each other when near a cell site.
Another well known application of wireless communication technologies is in wireless computer networks with the use of Wi-Fi and and satellite internet. Wi-Fi allows users to easily connect to the internet without the use of Ethernet cables. This has become the norm for connecting portable computers to the internet. Satellite internet is another way for connecting computers to the internet utilizing wireless cards that connect to a satellite enabling access to the internet.
An emerging application of wireless technologies is “wireless energy transfer”. This is the wireless transfer of electricity from a power source to a device that utilizes power This method does not utilize wires like conventional ways of charging electronics but rather uses a magnetic field.
The GPS is yet another method of wireless communication but between a receiver and a satellite. The global positioning system allows people to get location and time info anywhere in the world. Thanks to the advent of this technology, GPS technology is now widely used in ships, cars and aeroplanes as a way to obtain directions to a place.
Input devices are one more application of wireless technologies. Popular gaming devices such as the Wii and Kinect utilize both infrared technologies and camera tracking to broadcast inputs wirelessly to a console. Computer manufacturers also utilize wireless technologies in a lot of their equipment thanks to an increasing demand for consumers for more “clutter-free” products with wireless mice and keyboards.