Heard about UWB (Ultra-Wideband)? Chances you might have seen the acronym but don't know what it is really all about?

UWB is first of all headed towards your next phone. Forget about connecting your phone to your PC! You phone is the next PC don't forget! So like a PC your next phone is going to be equipped to connect directly to a monitor when it comes in close range of a UWB equipped monitor. And like a PC you will be able to come close to a UWB equipped printer and print out photographs, or connect to a server and store your photographs on a heavy duty disk.

UWB is a radio connection that will deliver data at much higher rates than current wi-fi technology. It is the technology that will place a phone in the middle of communications rather than a peripheral to a PC. So, it is envisaged that UWB empowered phones will connect to other phones when they come into close proximity to download at rates before unheard of. So, if you meet with a friend at Starbucks, and you both have UWB empowered phones, you can download to your friend a photograph, a song or a large document.

So when will we see UWB empowered devices? According to sources they are already looming. Ultrawideplanet.com provides up-to-date news on the arrival of UWB. It is stated there that we will see UWB come into its own in 2008. It is also said that UWB will deliver data very quickly but with much more limited range than current wi-fi.

This means that we will not be seeing UWB networks but rather, UWB will be empowering connections in a phone-centric world. Expect to see more in phone-to-phone connections, phone-to-printer, phone-to-monitors and the like. "Your phone will be what computers have become" (thanks Nokia for that saying).