Kiss Your Wireless Router Goodbye

If setting up a wireless router just sounds a little too daunting, new technology looks to make unplugging a lot easier. WiFi Direct, slated to roll out in the middle of next year, will turn every device enabled with it into a miniature access point, able to create connections with broadband modems and other WiFi enabled gadgets, BusinessWeek reports.

The technology is the work of the WiFi Alliance, an industry group including more than 300 makers of wireless equipment, including Intel, Apple, and Cisco. Consumers won’t even have to buy new gadgets; most existing WiFi devices will be able upgrade with a simple software download. The alliance expects WiFi Direct to prompt a glut of new WiFi-enabled products, like TVs, camcorders and more. (More WiFi stories.)