ZigBee - The Other Wireless Networking

| Commentary | You've almost certainly heard of both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and chances are you use one or both of these technologies in your day-to-day activities. You are probably not so familiar with ZigBee - yet another short-range wireless network technology.

ZigBee was created as a new standard (IEEE 802.15.4) to support relatively simple, low power wireless communications, primarily home and industrial automation applications. Not intended to replace either Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, ZigBee will instead be used in wireless sensor and grid networks. Some early examples of ZigBee networking include monitoring your wash machine for leaks or controlling the heating of buildings. As grid network applications are likely several more years away from becoming mainstream, the future of ZigBee as an established technology on the level of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth remains to be seen.
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