The wireless market has seemingly been dominated by cellular and wireless-local-area networks (WLANs). Though other technologies have been holding their own or even flourishing, they don't garner the same attention. Now, a new wireless category may steal some of that spotlight. Called the Personal Mobile Gateway (PMG), it has the backing of a number of companies.

An example is IXI Mobile, Inc. (www.ixi.com), which recently announced a product-development Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. (www.smartmodulartech.com), a wholly owned company of Solectron Corp. The two companies will design equipment for the deployment of "designed-for-PMG" Sleek Devices. Their jointly developed products and modules will target integration into OEM designs.

The Personal Mobile Gateway is the first product category to bridge the gap between mobile and personal-area networks (PANs). Through micro-router and micro-server functionalities, the PMG unites cellular and short-distance wireless networks. It serves as the point of connection between the wireless network and these new mobile devices. PMG-enabled devices could take the form of watches, pens, phones, messaging terminals, gaming devices, or cameras.