The ZigBee Alliance unifies multiple ZigBee wireless networking technologies into a single standard-- ZigBee 3.0, a means enabling communications between multiple devices in both residential and enterprise applications.

ZigBee 3.0 is IEEE 802.15.4-based, operates at 2.4GHz and uses ZigBee PRO, the group's standard for network formation and the devices attached to them. However it lacks 2 ZigBee specs, namely Smart Energy 2.0 (an IP-based profile) and RF4CE (a ZigBee version geared at remote controls).

“Underneath the covers we are accommodating these multiple applications in a single standard, so ZigBee thermostats, for example, can be used in either home or office buildings,” the Alliance says.

Networking vendor Quantenna and smart home platform developer SoftAtHome announce a team-up in next generation wireless home networks combining the SoftAtHome software with Quantenna wifi technology.

The first result of the partnership is the SOP7 embedded software platform. Powered by Quantera's QSR1000 4x4 800.11ac wifi chipset, the SOP7 claims to provide OEMs with greater bandwidth for TV and network operator solutions ranging from STBs to dongles, NAS and home gateways.

The partnership also covers multiple wifi and home networking areas, namely gateways-service connectivity, band steering, P1905 standard bandwidth management and cloud-based wifi network management.

Samsung announces the development of 60GHz wifi technology-- enabling wireless data transmission speeds of up to 4.6Gbps (or 575MB per second), a five-fold increase over the current 866Mbps maximum.

The company says it allows the transfer of a 1GB movie in less than 3 seconds, as well as real-time uncompressed HD video streaming from mobile devices to TVs.

According to Samsung the 802.11ad 60GHz wifi technology eliminates co-channel interference regardless the number of devices using the same network in order to maintain maximum speeds and remove the gap between theoretical and actual speeds. How so? Via the use of "micro beam-forming control technology" optimizing the communications module in less than 1/3000 seconds.

UC Berkeley and Stanford University engineers develop a possible solution for the wireless demands of the Internet of Things-- a cheap tiny (3.7mm x 1.2mm) dual-band radio powered by the signals it receives.

Similar tiny radios already exist, but unlike similar solutions (which operate on low frequencies), the Berkeley/Stanford radio receives data on the 24GHz band and transmits on 60GHz. This reduces the power requirements by so much the radio charges itself with energy from received signals.

Higher frequencies also allow very fast data transmission rates, even if in the data transmitted is of low volume.

“One of the benefits of going to high frequencies is that the wavelengths get smaller and you can put the antennas on the chip itself,” UC Berkeley Wireless Research Center director Ali Niknejad tells Wired.