Murata's sub-1cm WiFi chip

Component maker Murata has developed an 802.11b/g chip that's 9.6 x 9.6 x 1.8 mm in size. It has already shipped limited quantities to several cellphone manufacturers, and--to turn the usual pattern on its head--it will appear first in the US, not Japan. There's already one WiFi cellphone on its way here, from NEC, but news about other models is thin to nonexistent at the moment. Perhaps the Japanese cellphone manufacturers are feeling the pressure from carriers who don't want to accelerate the move to flat rates for data more than they have to?

[Read: Nikkei BP article]