It’s another “world’s smallest” item for us to check out. This time, Sharp has announced that they have created what they say is the world’s smallest wireless LAN module. It seems obvious, but it also boasts the lowest power consumption in the world.

The tiny unit measures just 8.0 x 7.6 x 1.3 mm. When the module is sending data, power consumption is at 654mW. Power usage drops to 165mW when the data is inbound. The battery drain is barely worth mentioning when it is in standby mode – just 0.3mW.

Sharp is gearing up to ship out sample units next month. They will sport what seems like a ridiculous price – about $170 – so it will be quite a while until we see this unit in a phone or a camera or whatever else a company wants to stick it in. That’s okay, because it seems reasonable (and necessary) that the price will fall considerably by then.