Oledcomm LiFiMAX Tab

Remember Li-Fi? It’s faded into the background compared to Wi-Fi, but the idea is simple: send data via modulated LEDs, switching them on and off 30 million times per second in its latest iteration. This avoids radio waves and is more secure; if you can’t see the light, you can’t intercept it. And latency is a low 4.5ms. “It’s perfect, for instance, in dense connectivity environments,” Benjamin Azoulay, Oledcomm’s CEO, told us on the showfloor. “If you have a classroom with 30 children connecting at the same time it is a fantastic technology even compared to Wi-Fi 6.”

In July 2021, the company announced its first integrated circuit (IC) with Li-Fi built in. At CES, it launched the LiFiMax Tab, a 10in Android tablet that includes the IC so that customers no longer need to plug in a Li-Fi adapter to make the technology work. These tablets connect to a Li-Fi access point, much like Wi-Fi. It plans to roll out 10,000 tablets to schools in France (and one in England) this year, but its long-term aims are to offer its IC to other smartphone and tablet makers. “I don’t believe that Li-Fi will replace

Wi-Fi, to be very clear,” said Azoulay. “I believe there i is a niche market, which w is a big niche, wh which h are the older applications wh where radio waves are forbidden f b dd and we provide wireless in those solution solutions.”

Azoulay says the LiFiMax Tab is “instantly available” to existing customers, at a cost of €400 per unit, but due to shortage of components and high demand it will take “three to four months to deliver to [new] customers”.