Will Li-Fi (light) be the new Wi-Fi?

[HossHuge]

Just heard about this technology and thought I'd pass it on. Just imagine any where you go that has a light could be used to connect to the net.

Li-Fi, as it has been dubbed, has already achieved blisteringly high speeds in the lab. Researchers at the Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin, Germany, have reached data rates of over 500 megabytes per second using a standard white-light LED. Haas has set up a spin-off firm to sell a consumer VLC transmitter that is due for launch next year. It is capable of transmitting data at 100 MB/s - faster than most UK broadband connections.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...-new-wifi.html

http://www.good.is/post/forget-wifi-...gh-lightbulbs/

[Steevo]

My brother and I used LED's and photo cells to transmit music as kids, black spray painted paper towel tubes worked good as isolators. I have wondred if that was possible for quite some time now.

[FordGT90Concept]

Not likely because it has the disadvantage of failing when the light is blocked. There's some fields where it would be useful (like inside of subway lines) but as a general application, radio is likely to remain king.