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It’s WiFi motherboards now
WiFi is spreading fast in India, attracting diverse players
such as hospitality chains, business schools and even rural villages. Now ASUS
is set to add to this revolution by launching WiFi motherboards for converting
PCs into wireless desktops. Srikanth R P has the details
 A
few years ago, knowledgeable PC buyers would have a checklist in their hands
for checking out add-on sound and graphic cards before buying the ultimate PC.
Today there is almost no need to do so as almost all motherboards come integrated
with sound and graphic cards. Now the integrated motherboard is set to take
a technological leap with the launch of WiFi motherboards by ASUS. The company
plans to tap the rapidly growing market for WiFi with its WiFi@Home platform,
which is designed to make wireless networking easier. The platform consists
of ASUS motherboards with a WiFi slot, a WLAN card and a software utility that
can turn your PC into an access point. This allows other wireless devices to
communicate with the PC and transfer or share data or services like Internet
access.
Says Pankaj Pamani, marketing manager, ASUS India, “ASUS WiFi@Home, as
the name suggests, is the latest platform specifically designed to simplify
the building of a wireless home network. In short, the goal is to enable reliable
wireless data transfer through the 802.11b standard, in addition to enabling
wireless Internet access and simple set-up at an affordable price.”
 The launch
of the product in India could not have come at a better time. Firstly, awareness
about WiFi has increased and today more and more corporates are willing to deploy
wireless networks. ASUS believes that this trend will catch on in the SOHO and
SME segment as well. Currently, the company is offering both Intel- and AMD-based
motherboards at an entry level price of Rs 15,500. Pamani claims that the WiFi
package from ASUS will be beneficial to users who are looking at creating a
wireless environment as they do not need to invest in buying expensive wireless
access points.
Explains Punit Arora, product manager, ASUS, “When a customer buys a normal
motherboard and wants to create a wireless environment, he would have to invest
in wireless card and access points separately. However, when he buys ASUS WiFi
motherboards bundled with the ASUS WiFi card, he gets an antenna and software
base access point along with the board at a nominal price difference. Here the
user saves approximately Rs 4,000-5,000 by buying the ASUS WiFi based motherboard.”
To convince users about the value proposition, ASUS is positioning the product
as a WiFi package, rather than just as a motherboard. Also on the anvil are
plans to identify and train channel partners.
The company’s product offering could affect the plans of other networking
vendors who are looking aggressively at the Indian WiFi market. As the motherboard
itself will offer wireless connectivity, it would be interesting to see how
other networking vendors would react. For CIOs looking to deploy easy, wireless
access to network resources, products like WiFi motherboards would surely add
a lot of flexibility.
srikanth@expresscomputeronline.com
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