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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Intel is discontinuing its current 802.11ad "WiGig" products [anandtech.com] by the end of the year, but will continue to work on using WiGig for untethered wireless VR headsets:

Intel is formally initiating the EOL program for the Wireless Gigabit 11000 [intel.com] and Tri Band Wireless-AC 18260 [intel.com] controllers, the Wireless Gigabit Antenna-M M100041 [intel.com] antenna and the Wireless Gigabit Sink W13100 [intel.com] sink today (September 8). Intel is asking its partners to place their final orders on its WiGig-supporting network cards, antenna and sink by September 29, 2017. The final shipments will be made by December 29, 2017.

[...] The WiGig short range communication standard enables compatible devices to communicate at up to 7–8 Gb/s data rates and with minimal latencies, using the 60 GHz spectrum at distances of up to ten meters. WiGig cannot replace Wi-Fi or Bluetooth because 60 GHz signals cannot penetrate walls, but it can enable devices like wireless docking stations, wireless AR/VR head-mounted displays, wireless storage devices, wireless displays, and others that are in direct line of sight. Intel's current-generation WiGig products were designed primarily for notebook dockings. A number of PC makers released laptops featuring Intel's Tri Band Wireless-AC 18260/17265 controllers and supporting docks featuring Intel's Wireless Gigabit Sink W13100. These WiGig-enabled solutions were primarily targeted at their B2B customers in business and enterprise segments.

However, WiGig has never seen any adoption in mass-market laptops, displays and other devices. The vast majority of advanced notebooks these days come with either USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C or Thunderbolt 3 ports supporting up to 10 or 40 Gb/s data transfer rates (respectively), DisplayPort 1.2 and other protocols, thus providing far better performance and functionality than WiGig, albeit at the cost of a tethered connection.

[...] What is interesting is that Intel is not disclosing whether they have plans to introduce any new WiGig products for laptops or tablets, byt they say they will be continuing their 802.11ad work with a focus on VR headsets. Earlier this year HTC and Intel already demonstrated a wireless HTC Vive operating using the WiGig technology, but didn't reveal whether it used its off-the-shelf WiGig silicon or custom yet-unannounced solutions for the project.

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