Perhaps the delays of the Spectec SDW-823 are related to adding 802.11n support.
Since late 2006, Spectec has been touting their MicroSD wi-fi card for Windows Mobile devices, and it has always been billed as 802.11b/g compatible. Of course, that was two years ago and the SDW-823 has not yet arrived. In fact, it’s been so long that the much faster 802.11n has become the standard for new wireless devices, and Spectec has apparently been busy adding it to the product.
Was 802.11b/g
The old product page listed the specifications as Network Standard Support: IEEE 802.11b/g; Network Architectures: Infrastructure, Ad-Hoc; Data Rates: < 802.11g: 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 Mbps; < 802.11b: 1, 2, 5.5, 11 Mbps; Modulation Techniques: BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, CCK, OFDM, DSSS; Receiver Sensitivity < 802.11g: 73-91 dBm; < 802.11b: 89-97 dBm; Power Consumption: Receive: 188 mA avg; Supply Voltage: I/O: 3.0 - 3.6 VDC; Operating Temperature: 0 °C to +70 °C, <95% humidity; Host Interface: SDIO Now! 1.0; OS Support: Microsoft Windows CE 4.X-5.X; and Package: 23.3 x 11 x 0.7 mm.
Now 802.11n
As you can see, the new card is longer and unlikely to fit in the typical MicroSD bay of a Smartphone device.
The new product page has the specifications as follows, with changes in bold. Network Standard Support: IEEE 802.11n; Network Architectures: Infrastructure, Ad-Hoc; Modulation Techniques: BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, CCK, OFDM, DSSS; Receiver Sensitivity: 85 dBm; Power Consumption: Receive: 150 mA; Supply Voltage: DC 3.0V – 3.6V; Operating Temperature: -45 °C to +85 °C; Host Interface: Micro SDIO; and OS Support: Windows Mobile 5.0 / 6.0.
Still not available
It’s great that the card now supports the faster, longer-range 802.11n specification. The only problem with it, and this is just nit-picking, is that it is still not available yet!
