Startup’s “revolutionary” pCell wireless networking technology, which provides each device its own discrete bubble of wireless energy to enhance speed, could change industry.

 

As he describes his company’s pCell wireless networking system, entrepreneur Steve Perlman, CEO of Artemis Networks, appears to be channeling Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

“I’m here to inform you about an incredible, revolutionary new technology in wireless,” declares Perlman in a video on his company’s website.

The jargon comes straight out of Apple, where the words “amazing” and “revolutionary” are commonplace in company press releases.

Perlman, who previously worked at Apple, has borrowed not just the superlatives favored by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, but in addition Jobs’ attire — an easy black shirt and jeans — to convince the area that his company’s pCell technology changes everything.

Former Apple CEO John Sculley meanwhile has turned to Google jargon to endorse the technology. “pCell is an authentic ‘moon shot’ disruptive invention, a type of rare but extraordinary moments when what previously seemed improbable in science becomes possible,” he said in an announcement.

[Prepare for yet more personal data collection. Read Kill Switches: Phones Only the start.]

If the technology works as Perlman says it does — his old company, game-streaming service OnLive didn’t live as much as expectations — it can allow mobile devices to accomplish as though they were connected to their own broadband fiber network.

pCell promises network connectivity that’s orders of magnitude faster than current mobile networks, limited only by the rate at which devices can receive. The promised network bandwidth can accommodate even large numbers of mobile users gathered in a small area, equivalent to a sports stadium, with none lack of connectivity.

Cisco research suggests mobile carriers should do something dramatic to house the growing variety of devices. The network equipment company projects that demand for mobile data will grow 25 times by 2020. Already, mobile carriers in major metropolitan areas, where mobile devices are ubiquitous, are battling the restrictions of current wireless technology.

pCell is determined by the very thing that vexes wireless networking equipment today: interference. The technology “exploits interference,” the corporate claims, via radio transmissions from multiple pCell base stations to create a private cell, or pCell, that makes a discrete bubble of wireless energy for every device. The result’s imagined to be like having the mobile network all to yourself.

pCell is compatible with existing LTE devices, reminiscent of the Apple iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4, to call about a. The question is whether or not telecom companies, which are typically cautious of their investments, will decide to the technology.

And in the event that they do, what is going to happen to mobile pricing models, that have been built across the assumption of scarcity? With the equivalent of a competent fiber connection in one’s pocket, who needs voice service or a separate home Internet service for that matter?

The thing about revolutions is that they are seldom bloodless.

IT is turbocharging BYOD, but mobile security practices lag behind the growing risk. Also within the Mobile Security issue of InformationWeek: These seven factors are shaping the way forward for identity as we transition to a digital world. (Free registration required.)

Thomas Claburn was writing about business and technology since 1996, for publications including New Architect, PC Computing, InformationWeek, Salon, Wired, and Ziff Davis Smart Business. Before that, he worked in film and tv, having earned a not particularly useful … View Full Bio

More Insights