Laptops That Don't Need USB Cables

Dell and Lenovo today announced the first notebooks with embedded Certified Wireless USB chips, which will enable cable-free connections to USB peripherals hooked up to Certified Wireless USB hubs that D-Link and IOGear also announced.

Additionally, D-Link and IOGear announced Certified Wireless USB adapters that you can plug into USB ports to add the functionality to notebooks and PCs that don't have it built in.

The notebooks (the Dell Inspiron 1720 and Lenovo ThinkPad T61 and T62p), wireless hubs, and wireless USB adapters from D-Link and IOGear are the first products to receive Wireless USB Certification from the USB Implementers Forum. They're expected to ship in time for back-to-school and holiday-season purchases.

Eventually, these notebooks and other PCs equipped with wireless USB chips will be able to connect to a new generation of peripherals that will also carry embedded wireless USB. But for now, the most likely use will be with legacy USB peripherals connected to wireless USB hubs. You could, for example, use one of the notebooks to print documents on a conventional USB printer plugged into a wireless USB hub.