Linksys Preparing 802.11g CompactFlash Card

Linksys has revealed plans to market an 802.11g CompactFlash card, making it the first company to announce such a product.

IEEE 802.11g is a relatively short-range wireless networking standard that is often seen as the replacement for the popular 802.11b. It offers a higher maximum data transfer rate (54 Mbit/s vs. 11 Mbit/s) over roughly the same distance.

802.11g cards can connect to 802.11b access points, and vice versa, though at the lower maximum data transfer rate. However, for some 802.11g access points, this slows everyone on the Wireless Network down to 802.11b speeds.

Several companies are working on 802.11g chipsets to allow this networking standard to be built into future handhelds and smartphones, but as of yet no company has announced plans to release a mobile device with 802.11g built into it.

Details on the Linksys card are sketchy. All the company has revealed at this point is that this wireless networking card will be compatible with Pocket PCs. Lack of Palm OS support isn't surprising, as there are almost no devices running this operating system that have a CompactFlash slot, while there are quite a few Pocket PCs that include one.

Linksys doesn't say anything about when the release of this peripheral will be besides "soon," and didn't say what it will cost.

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