ExtremeTech's Mark Hachman reports today that Freescale Semiconductor has decided to pull out of the UWB Forum in order to focus on its own version of ultrawideband called Cable-Free.

While this is a somewhat logical step following the Bluetooth SIG's selection of the WiMedia Alliance's version of UWB, Freescale's Martin Rofheart says it's really all about clarifying the company's aims. "If you look at our objectives, our group is just not aligned with the [UWB] Forum," Rofheart says. "Essentially we're betting the farm on Cable-Free. That's the UWB Opportunity, the near-term opportunity."

And looking on the bright side (pushing the logical limits of optimism, in fact), Rofheart insists that going it alone can give Freescale an advantage: "In order to [succeed], WiMedia needs to pull together a massive group of companies," he says; whereas Freescale, presumably, has only itself to argue with...

Rofheart says the company will announce a separate Cable-Free group within the next couple of months.