Linksys Unveils Gateway

The vendor is billing the product, the Instant Wireless Presentation Gateway (WPG11), as the first of its kind. The product, which has a street price of $299 and is available through distributors, was released to manufacturing last week and is set to ship on May 15, the company said.

The WPG11 works with a laptop or PC outfitted with an 802.11b network interface card. The wireless range of the device is about 300 feet. Linksys has gone to lengths to ensure the WPG11 is interoperable with leading projection devices on the market, as well as TVs and flat panels, said Linksys Senior Product Manager Charles Tran.

Solution providers said if the product lives up to advance billing, it represents a breakthrough.

"We know of no one else who has done this," said John Godbout, partner at CCS Presentation Systems, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based audiovisual systems integrator. "In companies like Intel and IBM, where wireless [access is a badge of honor, it is a very affordable solution for a real-world problem."

The WPG11 includes gateway hardware boasting a chipset that runs Linux and client software. Wireless presentation users are assigned unique codes for access and control to facilitate collaborative presentations.

Ron Gillies of LCI Consulting, a San Diego-based consultant working with Projector SuperStore, said he envisions the wireless gateway leading to more collaboration. "In the classroom, a teacher and students can use the gateway to interactively collaborate and display information," he said.

The product also includes what Linksys calls PresentationPlayer. The software, which Linksys hopes to patent, affords multiple users the ability to conduct a visual dialogue by employing start, stop and pause commands to share images including PowerPoint files, chart, graphics or text.