Compaq, IBM to Introduce Wireless-Capable Laptops

Compaq Computer and IBM are introducing laptop computers with built-in wireless access that allows users to connect to a corporate network.

The rivals plan to introduce the machines today, following the introduction earlier this year of wireless notebook computers by industry leader Toshiba.

The IBM and Compaq machines come configured with antennas using the standard known as 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, which allows wireless access either within an office building set up for the system or in public areas equipped with special devices.

The makers hope that easier wireless access will reverse the slide in notebook computer sales, which have fallen even faster than desktop computer shipments in the last six months.

Notebook computers are more expensive and more profitable than desktop PCs or hand-held devices, but shipments dropped 11% in the first quarter from the last three months of 2000, according to IDC.

But analyst Alan Promisel of IDC predicts that unit sales of portable computers will increase by more than 20% next year, more than double the projected 9.3% growth in desktops.

Dell Computer probably will join the wireless laptop market soon, observers said.

Efforts to enable easy wireless access have been hampered by a different protocol called Bluetooth, which permits short-range communications among devices via a radio frequency. The Bluetooth system can conflict with Wi-Fi.

Until now, most wireless-capable notebooks have needed a separate access device to reach networks through Wi-Fi.

Analysts said Compaq has designed an elegant solution by creating different antennas that will snap on to its new laptop computer--first one for Wi-Fi next month, another for Bluetooth in late summer.

“You’re not pigeon-holing a user with one technology,” Promisel said. In the past, a user of a corporate notebook with Wi-Fi would find the machine incompatible with Bluetooth, which can connect with hand-held computers, stereos and detached keyboards.

Compaq’s model is part of a rebranding that will phase out many existing lines by the end of the year. The new black and silver Evo brand for corporate buyers also includes “thin clients,” which are inexpensive machines used for specific functions such as retail order-taking, and workstations, which are powerful personal desktops.

The company is adding the Wi-Fi system into several new models, starting at $2,349.

IBM also said it is shipping tools to make its servers for running computer networks or Web sites capable of taking wireless instructions from Internet phones or hand-held computers.

“When people are buying something as expensive as a notebook computer, they want to make sure it won’t be prematurely obsolete,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Giga Information Group. “Our belief is that within a few short months, a laptop without wireless will be as rare as one without a modem.”