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Next tech thing: WiGig

Wi-Fi, WiMax, WirelessHD, WHDI and now ... WiGig?Computer and home entertainment industry leaders, including Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., Dell Inc. and Panasonic Corp., said Wednesday that they’re forming a new association to create an even faster wireless technology for zipping large files around the home.

NEW YORK — Wi-Fi, WiMax, WirelessHD, WHDI and now ... WiGig?

Computer and home entertainment industry leaders, including Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., Dell Inc. and Panasonic Corp., said Wednesday that they’re forming a new association to create an even faster wireless technology for zipping large files around the home.

WiGig will be more than 10 times faster than Wi-Fi, and should be able to deliver high-definition video from computers and set-top boxes to TV sets without the need for unsightly wires, the companies said.

The range will be shorter than Wi-Fi — WiGig will work well within a room, and perhaps extend to an adjacent room as well.

There are already several technologies competing for the job of in-home wireless video transmission. WirelessHD, championed by SiBEAM Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., is designed specifically to link set-top boxes and Blu-ray players to TV sets. WHDI, invented by Amimon Corp. of Israel, uses Wi-Fi-like technology to do the same thing.

Ali Sadri, chairman of the newly formed Wireless Gigabit Alliance and an Intel executive, said WiGig was not a direct competitor to technologies like WirelessHD, but has broader goals.