Apple Adds 802.11n Wireless To AirPort Express
With the addition of 802.11n, Apple says AirPort Express can now deliver up to five times the performance and two times the wireless range of the previous version.
Priced at $99, Apple's AirPort Express, provides wireless access to a broadband connection for up to 10 Mac or PC users. By plugging a printer into the device's USB port, users can also add shared wireless printing to their network. It also packs in security features such as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA2), 128-bit WEP encryption and a built-in firewall.
AirPort Express enables users to tie their iTunes music collection wirelessly a home stereo or powered speakers.
Apple in a statement said it now includes 802.11n as a standard feature in its entire line of AirPort base stations and Mac notebooks, as well as its iMac desktops, AppleTV set-top boxes and Time Capsule wireless hard drives.
The new 802.11n-enabled AirPort Express is available now through Apple resellers, Apple's retail stores and on the vendor's Web site.
Apple joins a bevy of other vendors such as Cisco Systems, Aruba Networks, Trapeze Networks, D-Link and Netgear in launching products based on the draft version of the 802.11n wireless standard. Final approval of the standard by IEEE is expected in 2009.