The mere idea it may one day be possible to connect computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices to share voice and data transmissions without the need for cables has brought together some of the industry’s heaviest hitters under the umbrella of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.
Bluetooth is the technology proposed to bring this vision to a reality. It was named after the Norwegian king Harold Bluetooth, who succeeded in unifying the various barbarian tribes of early Scandinavia and converting many of them to Christianity. The Bluetooth SIG aims to do much the same with the various electronic devices available today and in the future.
Since founding members L.M. Ericsson, IBM Corp., Intel Corp., Nokia Corp. and Toshiba Corp. in May first proposed creating a microprocessor chip equipped with a short-range radio transmitter and receiver, the possibilities have attracted some 200 additional companies.
Those joining the initiative include Motorola Inc., 3Com Corp., Lucent Technologies Inc., NTT DoCoMo, Philips Electronics Inc., Compaq, Hewlett Packard Co., Samsung Electronics and Texas Instruments Inc.
That so many manufacturers have thrown their lot behind Bluetooth is important, because the major obstacle to the initiative’s success is not the technology behind it, but rather the teamwork needed to implement it.
“This is not technically difficult,” said Konstantin Zsigo, president of Zsigo Wireless Data Consultants. “This is a political sale. Politically, everyone has to agree.”
A recent trend has manufacturers creating devices that converge several types of devices into one, such as the Nokia 9000i or Qualcomm Inc.’s Pdq phone. Both devices try to be a personal digital assistant and a communications device at the same time.
“Bluetooth actually makes that make less sense,” Zsigo said. “It encourages disconnected communications and PDA devices. It makes more sense for them to be two different products than one, because with it, you have the ability to share your communications device with multiple devices and your PDA with other devices. It they are together, there is less opportunity to share.”
Also, combined devices result in larger form factors, shorter battery life greater weight.
But for computers and communications devices to share information this way, those making each device will have to agree to use the technology and come out with it at roughly the same time, hence the political challenge. So for a Compaq computer to use a Motorola wireless phone as a modem and transmit data from one to the other wirelessly, both must have the Bluetooth technology installed.
The initiative was the subject of a session last month at Wireless I.T. in Las Vegas, where a less than stellar live demonstration of a file transfer from one laptop to another highlighted the need for continued development. At this early stage, transmission speeds start slow and get slower as the transfer progresses.
Other advancements are needed as well. The Bluetooth hardware and software initially will increase device prices by $20 and will require two chipsets. The SIG hopes to bring this cost down to $5 and require only one chip for the entire solution.
The Bluetooth Developers Conference has drafted Bluetooth specification version 0.7, the details of which were undisclosed. The SIG hopes to have a working version 1.0 available by the second quarter of next year, with products available in the second half.
