The Infrared Data Association Forms New Hospitality Working Group; Will Support Deployment Of Infrared Connectivity Solutions Across A Broad Spectrum Of Mobile Environments In Hospitality Vertical

"There's a critical need for IrDA connectivity solutions that enable applications in environments where other technologies, such as radio frequency, may have restricted or limited access," stated Ron Brown, IrDA's executive director. "Solutions enabling travel mobility are yet another example of infrared and radio frequency technologies complementing each other," added Brown. "As the Travel Mobility SIG moves forward, it leverages an installed base of 250+ million infrared-enabled devices along with IrDA-developed standards, such as Infrared Financial Management (IrFM), a global wireless point-of-sale (POS) payment standard for handheld devices."

Working Group leaders are Ron Brown, executive director, IrDA (Walnut Creek); Dr. Raimund Pammer, chairman of the Technical Management Board, EFKON AG (Graz, Austria); and Sanjeev Dua, vice president Business Development, Clarinet Systems Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.).

Air Travel Working Group

IrDA will provide solutions that deliver public access to wireless connectivity in airports and on planes. Today's complex infrastructure, challenges of regulatory compliance issues, communications in locations where mission-critical aviation RF systems must operate interference-free, and quality of service in high-density LAN environments, can be resolved with infrared platform solutions. Consumer demands for access to both professional and personal services such as newswire, stocks, email/messaging, maps and city guides, in-flight shopping, ATM services, video games, video on demand, live TV and personal audio are key focus applications.

Hospitality Working Group

Surveys, including OAG's annual Frequent Flyer Poll, show that business travelers use their mobile devices most often in hotels. IrDA's TM-SIG is the driving force for deploying infrared-based networks in private and public hotel areas. High speed internet access in hotel rooms and meetings/conferences rooms along with other applications such as making hotel reservations, obtaining city travel maps, coupons, brochures or taking orders at a restaurant are key applications.

Clarinet Systems Corp., a global provider of wireless connectivity for handheld appliances, along with MagiWeb Corp. (Taipei, Taiwan), a worldwide systems integrator for Internet connectivity for the hospitality market, and Crowne Plaza Hotels (Taipei Taiwan), have entered into a strategic alliance to provide guests with wireless infrared connections.

About the Infrared Data Association

IrDA is the leader in global wireless standards. First as a standards body and now as a trade association, IrDA has maintained its leadership position in commercially viable wireless data transfer technology since 1993. The intellectual property developed by IrDA has also enabled emerging technologies such as Bluetooth, WAP, and 3GPP.