August 28, 2001 – Millennial Net is aiming to prove that good wireless connectivity does come in small – and energy-efficient – packages.

The Cambridge, Mass., company this week released the latest version of i-Bean, its personal area networking computing device. Less than an inch wide and a half-inch thick, the i-Bean 4000 can transmit and receive data up to range of 30 meters. New in this release, improved battery life that augments the fact that the i-Bean only uses power when it's in operation.

Available now as a development kit for OEM prototyping, the current version builds on Millennial Net's "plans to continually bring new functionality and lower costs to the wireless computing market," according to COO Sheng Liu.

I-Bean and the general purpose iB-3000, a point-to-multipoint wireless network, are described by Millennial Net as "ideal solutions" for data security, equipment monitoring and "other close range wireless applications in the consumer, industrial, medical and military markets."

"Imagine using a PDA to check temperature-sensitive goods in a truck without entering the vehicle," said company CEO Timothy Jones, "and then using the same device to recalibrate the vehicle's refrigeration unit to reach the proper temperature. Or," he added, "signaling an alert system if an Alzheimer's patient leaves a safe environment."

Other applications suggested by Millennial Net:

• A foreman can wear a hardhat embedded with an i-Bean to collect critical data from instruments distributed throughout the construction site.

• An air conditioner can deliver conditioned air to a room based on the temperature sensed by an i-Bean at the user's location, not by the wall mounted thermostat 20 ft away from the users.

• A parking meter attendant can drive through an entire street without stopping while inspecting all parking meters with a handheld device.

• iB home networks could monitor inside and outside systems and keep tabls on fire alarm status, furnace and cooling functions, ventilation and food storage temperatures.

• The two-way paging features of the iB network could be used in small hospitals for alert systems.

Tech specs: For communications with a PC, cell phone or PDA, the i-Bean 4000 converts RF signals to serial RS232 format. For networking, the communications mode can be point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, and multipoint-to-multipoint. The i-Bean 4000's radio frequency band is selectable between 300MHz and 900MHz, with a maximum bandwidth of 115 kb/sec. It runs on 3 VDC cell battery for its entire life span

Millennial Net is a privately held technology company founded by MIT researchers. For more information, visit www.millennial.net