Bluetooth promised an end to cables, but, one year on, where is it?
Marc Ambasna-Jones reports
Bluetooth is one of those new technologies that has captured the
industry's imagination. But, like Wap, it is in danger of being
over-hyped before it is ready to deliver anything tangible.
It has been more than a year now since the Bluetooth special
interest group (SIG) ratified its Specification 1.0, amid promises
of earth-shattering products that would be appearing before the end
of 2000. So, where are they?
The past year has been a difficult one for Bluetooth. Security
and interference issues have been prevalent and these have yet to
be resolved, according to Nick Hunn, technical manager at TDK
Systems, a company that is currently working to Bluetooth-enable
IBM's Thinkpad notebooks.
Suppliers - and there are lots of them - cannot release products
with the Bluetooth logo because few have passed the Bluetooth
qualification process. One exception is Motorola's subsidiary
Digianswer. Its Type II PC card is being used by a large number of
developers as a platform for demonstrating Bluetooth, and as a
benchmark for developing applications. The company is also gaining
momentum in original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sales through
deals with the likes of IBM and Toshiba.
Much of the hesitation to push products forward for
accreditation is due to a new specification that is due to be
ratified at the end of November. Specification 1.1 will be the
keystone of any Bluetooth products launched next year and could, in
theory, make all products developed under Specification 1.0b
obsolete unless their software is upgradable.
Madge Networks subsidiary Red-M has announced plans to launch a
Bluetooth server in November, aimed primarily at applications
developers working in vertical market sectors.
According to Simon Gawne, vice-president of marketing and
business development at Red-M, very shortly there will be a large
installed base of Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as cameras,
printers, and PC cards. "We hope to leverage this large base of
edge devices by providing the structure for a controlled
environment within an office - or any building, really," he
says.
This doesn't mean you will find Red-M's server on the shelves of
PC World this Christmas but it will be bundled with applications
aimed at providing a Bluetooth infrastructure at airports, railway
stations and in shops.
The server is software-upgradable, so it will be able to accept
the new Bluetooth specification, says Gawne, keen to dismiss fears
that the server might become instantly obsolete.
Hunn says that all products released in the next couple of
months must be software-upgradable, unless suppliers deliberately
want to shoot themselves in the foot.
"There are 200 major changes from Specification 1.0b to 1.1," he
explains. "And that includes everything from the radio spec up to
the software stack and applications. This means that anyone
bringing out a product now that is not upgradable is silly because
there won't be a stable and interoperable Bluetooth platform for
another 12 months."
So, is Bluetooth just another buzzword to be lumped into the
same pending basket as Wap, GPRS and mobile commerce?
Perhaps it is, but always remember that the combined force of
all these technologies represents the future of mobile computing
and communications.
In general, analysts appear to be keen on the technology and
have made optimistic predictions for Bluetooth-enabled product
shipments and market values. Analyst firm Merrill Lynch claims
there will be 2.2 billion Bluetooth-enabled devices shipped by
2005, while Frost and Sullivan estimates that total revenues for
Bluetooth will rocket to $699.2m (£490m) by 2006 - a compound
annual growth rate of 63.4%.
But where does all this leave the technology? Will we have to
wait another six months before seeing Bluetooth products infiltrate
our everyday lives?
The answer is no because, despite the problems and the potential
future changes, a number of suppliers have already jumped ahead and
will launch products in November and December.
The range of Bluetooth applications being talked about at the
moment is diverse. As well as the wireless desktop, where a user
can print, get Internet access, download pictures from cameras and
operate a keyboard and mouse without any wires, there is also
synchronisation with mobile devices.
Major uses will be the cable-free transfer of information within
the office, such as using a handheld computer to send and receive
e-mails or pull contact details out of Microsoft Outlook on a
desktop PC.
On the hardware side, apart from Red-M, Ericsson has promised to
deliver its Bluetooth headset for mobile phone use as well as a
Bluetooth adaptor for its handsets before the year is out. The
company has already announced its R520 triple-band handset with
GPRS, Bluetooth, Wap and High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD),
and has a number of other home-control-related products in the
pipeline.
RTX Telecom is producing a Bluetooth USB adaptor for desktop
PCs, and 3Com is also working on USB adaptor and wall and
ceiling-mounted transmitters, as well as adaptor PC cards for
notebooks.
Keeping sight of what the technology can do to ease everyday
burdens is important. Bluetooth is not without limitations - or
competition.
The IEEE's 802.11b wireless standard seen by many as a suitable
networking technology, although it is not without its problems. The
future here will probably rest with related technologies, such as
HiperLan2 which can boast greater bandwidth and stability.
In businesses, Bluetooth will infiltrate in a number of ways.
Currently, the most obvious use is for mobile phone connectivity,
although a wider range of applications, such as Lan access, will
start to emerge during the course of next year. Until then,
Bluetooth will continue to develop as a personal networking medium
for connecting mobile units to their desk-bound siblings.
For the IT department, Bluetooth is destined to remain another
wait-and-see technology. It has great potential but it is currently
too complicated to put together, which means it is vulnerable to
long delays in design and production.
Wise managers will wait until next year, when products based on
the new specification will emerge and should prove to be more
stable. In the meantime, the market will gradually grow as most of
the early products find themselves in the hands of the
gadget-hungry few.
What is Bluetooth?
At its most basic, Bluetooth is a wireless technology that
allows devices including PCs, printers, mobile phones and laptops
to "talk" to each other without using cables. It uses radiowaves
and transmits voice and data across the unlicensed ISM (industrial,
scientific, and medical) band at 2.4GHz.
The Bluetooth standard has been developed by a number of leading
mobile and PC technology companies including Ericsson, IBM, Intel,
Motorola, Nokia and Toshiba. Other prominent members of the
Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) include Microsoft, 3Com and
Lucent, while the total number of companies now supporting
Bluetooth on a worldwide basis stands at about 1,880.
At the moment, Bluetooth transmitters have a range of about 10m,
although this is variable depending on the environment. The signal
range can be extended by using a series of interlinked base
stations.
Specification 1.0b is currently being upgraded to version 1.1,
which is due for release at the end of this month. This means that
any products released over the next couple of months will need a
software upgrade to be compatible with products launched next
year.
Benefits of Bluetooth
For most people, having quick and immediate access to mobile
devices without having to connect using wires is a huge benefit.
One obvious application is that Bluetooth will enable mobile phone,
notebook PC and personal organiser users to access applications,
such as e-mail and voice calls, on the move.
It also enables allocated devices to "talk" to each other, so
that information such as contacts and calendar are constantly
synchronised between devices.
PC users will be able to connect to a network or a printer from
anywhere within radio range to a base station or radio link. Images
from digital cameras can be downloaded instantly onto a PC either
directly or maybe to another user via mobile phone.
For presentations, equipment such as microphones, amplifiers and
speakers can be connected without having to worry about the limits
of the connecting cables or having to deal with a mass of
proprietary cables and connectors, although currently Bluetooth has
a variable range