Hot on the news of the FCC opening up "white spaces", unused gaps in the broadcast television band, for unlicensed use, Dell has announced plans to develop laptops using the newly available frequencies for enhanced wireless communication. The longer wavelength of the white space frequencies, lower than the 2.4GHz band now used for WiFi, allows their signals to travel longer distances without interference, and through solid objects that existing WiFi transmissions can't penetrate. Any developer can build devices using the white spaces frequencies, so long as the products don't interfere with licensed transmissions. This free-for-all approach is what has led to the domination of 2.4GHz devices, in everything from cordless phones to baby monitors, and of course WiFi. No details have been announced yet on exactly how Dell plans to work the technology into its products, but it has called the development "complementary" to WiFi, so it most likely won't replace compatibility with existing networks.

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