From Intel, the Wireless laptop. (First in/First Out).

With much fanfare and circumstance, at CeBit in March, executives from Intel Corp. officially announced the company's Centrino chip set. (In an amusing fit of hyperbole, one overeager company official-using a meat cleaver--even chopped a PC cord in half.) Centrino Mobile Technology, as the chip set is officially called, combines the Pentium M processor, the Intel 855 chipset family, and the Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 network connection.

The wireless portion was designed and validated to connect easily to 802.11b WiFi certified access points, and also supports wireless LAN security including 802.1x, WEP and VPN technologies, and will be software upgradeable to support WPA. In addition, Centrino will support Cisco LEAP and will be software upgradeable to Cisco compatible extensions. (Intel says Centrino will offer compatibility with 802.11a and, possibly, 802.11g by June.)

To enhance user satisfaction with its wireless chip set, Intel has also created the Wireless Verification Program, through which it tests compatibility between Centrino and public WiFi access points, or hotspots. The company says that its efforts worldwide have already resulted in thousands of verified hotspots; 10,000 are expected to be verified by the end of the year. Intel says Centrino will connect to a WiFi network within about 100 meters of a hotspot-although the company has not indicated how Centrino performs with obstructions.

Intel is serious about making sure that Centrino works as advertised. The company has created a standardized worldwide Wireless Identifier Program that includes signs to help users identify where they can connect wirelessly. According to company officials, the program informs users that a particular service provider's network has been verified with Intel Centrino mobile technology. In addition, Intel has created a $150 million fund to invest in companies that are helping to expand and accelerate the infrastructure and capabilities required to make wireless computing ubiquitous.

Centrino pricing includes the Intel 855PM chipset, Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 network connection, and the Pentium M processor at speeds of 1.60, 1.50, 1.40, 1.30 GHz, priced at $720, $506, $377, $292, respectively, in 1,000 unit quantities. Centrino technology also is available in a low voltage processor at 1.10 GHz and an ultra-low-voltage processor at 900 MHz priced at $345, and $324, respectively.

Most of the big PC OEMs (Dell, HP, IBM, Sony, Toshiba) have indicated that they will ship laptops with Centrino--probably by the time you read this. And there's little doubt that the chips will be a boon for those seeking to create WiFi networks in the home or workplace.

But users who rush Out the door, laptops under arm, seeking wireless wonders may be disappointed. Hotspots are in very limited supply, subscription prices remain high, and coverage is spotty: most providers limit the numbers of APs (access points) subscribers can connect to. This may change over the coming year as Cometa Networks (funded in part by Intel) and other wireless startups try to create nationwide wireless networks. But as my feature this month indicates, the larger RBOCs and other major carriers are not rolling out high-speed wireless networks very quickly, and smaller ISPs are taking up the slack.

In many ways, the situation is analogous to the dawn of the wired Internet, where thousands of smaller ISPs provided access while the big boys tried to figure out how to join the party. Eventually, the big fish swallowed the little fish, and today's high-speed access is limited to a few large cable and telcos. Will history repeat itself with public WiFi? Intel would probably rather avoid a million certifications with a million little ISPs, and a few companies with national WiFi networks would probably be better-at least from a usability perspective-than a million Mom and Pop shops.

My easy answer? Intel should buy Starbucks. Problem solved.

www.intel.com