Peripherals manufacturer TDK Systems Europe has launched a
Bluetooth product for the Compaq iPaq that gives iPaq users access
to e-mail, Web sites, intranet and desktop applications over a
wireless connection.
The product was launched as analysts group Frost & Sullivan
predicted that Bluetooth was finally set for take-off after four
key components of the wireless puzzle had come into place.
Michael Wall, wireless research analyst at Frost & Sullivan,
said that support for Bluetooth within mobile operating systems and
the ratification of the Bluetooth 1.1 standard in 2001 were
boosting interoperability.
The second piece of the Frost & Sullivan jigsaw is middleware,
which, according to Wall, compensates for the lack of Bluetooth
support within desktop operating systems.
In the long-term, he said, this middleware could be used to add
Bluetooth support to industry-specific applications. A third
development is the growth of new, client-focused applications,
ranging from file-sharing and network access to bespoke
developments for niche application areas.
Finally, Frost & Sullivan expect service providers, which are
gearing up to offer wireless services that can operate across
Bluetooth-based networks, to provide users with e-mail, Internet
access, personal information management software, file-sharing and
synchronisation.
Andy Buss, an analyst at research group Canalys, said that
Bluetooth-enabled devices were starting to appear, and that this
should fuel demand for handheld computers in 2002. Canalys
estimates that in the fourth quarter of 2001 some 20% of all mobile
devices sold were wireless integrated devices.
Peripherals manufacturer TDK Systems Europe has extended its Go
Blue range of Bluetooth products with "bluePAQ", a jacket that fits
over a Compaq iPaq. The £169 add-on is aimed at giving iPaq users
access to email, Web sites, intranet and desktop applications over
a wireless Bluetooth connection.
One of the key benefits the company sees for Bluetooth technology
is for IT management of mobile devices. Nick Hunn, managing
director of TDK Systems, said that by providing a method of
installing files from a network onto a wireless device like the
iPaq, "[Bluetooth] puts the IT manager back in control of mobile
wireless devices."
More devices are set to be introduced this year. Next month at the
CeBit show in Hanover, Fujitsu Siemens is planning to introduce a
Bluetooth-enabled handheld computer, running Microsoft's PocketPC
2002 operating system.