Alereon said last week it has production-ready chips for Certified Wireless USB using ultrawideband (UWB): The chips are available for $10 in quantities of 10,000, which should give you an idea of the final cost of a device incorporating them--at least $100. The two chips that form their UWB solution would be the first to hit the market. The WiMedia Alliance chief, Stephen Wood of Intel, is quoted in the press release noting that "momentum...continues to surge." Well, one out of the gate can certainly help with momentum, and the rush of other chips is likely to happen soon. At long last.
The competing UWB standard developed by Freescale, a spun-off division of Motorola, hasn't yet hit products, although their Cablefree USB device--a driverless four-port USB hub and matching USB dongle for a host--may hit the shelve as soon as July from Belkin.