When electric appliances are plugged in but turned off, they are usually in standby mode, many waiting to respond to a remote control or recharging a battery on a cordless device.
Any electric device with an on-off switch can be plugged into an X-10 module, which in turn is plugged into a normal outlet and controlled by a hand-held cordless device, computer, telephone or timer.
The Swiss firm Logitech (13, LOGI) is a small but leading company in PC peripherals like mice, trackballs, keyboards, Web cams, headsets and network music systems with particular clout in cordless devices.
From the description, it sounds a lot like the SoundFocus guys are building a special set of headphones, but that could eventually morph into a cordless, wearable device like traditional hearing aids.
In the not-so-distant future, we will very likely see cordless electronic devices in hospitals that sense and report vital signs of patients.
Other double-digit winners for me last year were NTT Docomo, the Japanese phone company; Logitech International, a maker of cordless pc devices in Switzerland; Repsol, the Spanish oil company; and Travelers, Wal-Mart and John Wiley & Sons.
In general, 2.4 2.4835 GHz spectrum bands are shared by many wireless devices, such as home microwave oven, wireless sensor networks (Zigbee), WLANs (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth devices (IEEE 802.15.1), cordless phones, wireless USB device, and so on.
One last quirk: Microwaves work in the same part of the radio spectrum as cordless phones, Bluetooth devices and wireless home networks.
Cordless telephones are devices that take the place of a telephone instrument within a home or office and permit very limited mobility up to 100 metres (330 feet).
For the past few years, Skype has found its way into a variety of devices from cordless phones and mobile phones to TVs through direct partnerships with device manufacturers.
Among its televisions is a cordless one, plus a device which allows you to change channels by donning a headset and thinking hard about it.
