Wish: Apple solution for wireless headphones.
Apple has managed to make very small, very low power WiFi devices in the form of the iPad Touch and the iPhone. They even connect at a fast speed - 802.11g rather than the older b.
This is a vastly better networking technology than Bluetooth, which was invented at a time when WiFi wasn’t practical from a price and battery life perspective.
However, bluetooth has barely evolved and the bluetooth protocols were designed by committee— and work like it. Thus bluetooth really hasn’t taken off like it should.
Worse, bluetooth uses the same spectrum bands as WiFi so in our increasingly wifi saturated world, bluetooth is increasingly a low quality solution.
Apple is just the kind of company to fix this, and I’m kinda hoping that they do next week. Again, no inside info, but the timing feels right, and Apple is about the only company that can do this. The reason they might not is that the market may simply not be big enough.
Here’s the solution: Wifi enabled headphones. Earbuds would plug into a ipod shuffle sized receiver clip, while over-the-ear cans would have it all integrated. Apple could provide for seamless interconnectivity, using Bonjour. Solve all the pairing problems, and much more importantly— provide unbeatable audio fidelity at unbeatable ranges and with a clear, consistent, user experience.
I think this would probably be an open protocol with a nice name like Bonjour that apple could trademark, and thus license people who meet the protocol like the WiFi alliance does now.
But more importantly, I could finally get the headphones I’ve wanted since the first day I heard about bluetooth.
So, that’s my wishless for WWDC. And if not this year, maybe next year.
Bluetooth, like flash, is one of those technologies that needs to be taken out back and replaced.
