Computer maker IBM sees mobile connectivity as a important part of its future and could add antennae for wireless hook-up to much of its ThinkPad laptop lines within five months.
Jim Alfaro, a thinkpad specialist who has spent more than 30 years with IBM, showed a notebook with two antennae installed on the right and left tip of its monitor case during a recent media briefing in Hong Kong.
The antennae could connect to other machines via Bluetooth technology, which allows device communication within a range of several feet, or a wireless local area network (LAN). Once connected, a user could surf the Internet.
Part of the ThinkPad i Series, the laptop was designed for students and small business entrepreneurs who could use the machine to connect to access points on a campus or even at a cafe such as Starbucks.
'Wireless is on the front burner,' Mr Alfaro said. 'And you are now finding access points in places that you would have never thought of.'
He predicted that IBM, which has an interest in Bluetooth development, would install the antennae in its T, A, and X Series notebooks within five months.