LAS VEGAS—Never one to settle for an open standard when the opportunity to push a proprietary alternative presents itself, Sony has announced that it will wade into the next-generation short-range interconnect wars with a proprietary new wireless spec called "TransferJet." Sony's proposed TransferJet spec has a physical peak transmission rate of 560Mbps and would appear to compete directly with short- and medium-range ultrawideband-based offerings like wireless USB (W-USB) and the next generation of Bluetooth technology. But in spite of any similarities to either W-USB or Bluetooth 3.0, both of which are based on the same WiMedia radio technology and promise transfer speeds in the 480Mbps range, Sony's TransferJet has some distinguishing characteristics that set it apart from the pack.

In Sony's vision of the future, any two consumer devices will be able to exchange data wirelessly with one another simply by holding them close together. The system is designed for maximum ease of use, which means limited options for controlling the transfers; devices will transfer their contents automatically to another device within range. Users can "register" devices within the home to keep them from transmitting to "unregistered" devices, which should keep Uncle Dave from beaming his "art photos" onto your TV set without permission. Other than that, everything else appears to be automatic and button-free.

Because the spec is designed to be both 1) low-power and 2) close range (to avoid interference problems), Sony went with an electric induction field coupler instead of more traditional radiation field antennas. Induction is the same tech used to charge cordless electric toothbrushes, and it's also being used for wireless charging in some consumer electronics devices. Because induction only works over very short ranges, TransferJet devices need to be within 3cm of each other; essentially, the couplers need to touch.

TransferJet operates at 4.48GHz and promises fast connections, though real-world transfer speeds will never match up with the theoretical maximum of the couplers. Error correction and transfer protocols add overhead that reduces the real-world throughput to something on the order of 375Mbps. And in response to the inevitable reader question about the possibility of using TransferJet to transmit power to a device, thereby making it a true USB replacement, Sony's press release is silent on this issue. Also unstated is when Sony plans to announce the first devices based on the new technology.

Sony is pushing the technology as a universal wireless interface between devices, but it certainly faces stiff competition from the aforementioned WiMedia-based radio technologies. While we might have yet another format war on our hands here, it's clear that 2008 is already shaping up to be a big year for wireless.