SURVEY - FT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REVIEW/ Wireless wonders all
set to change the way we live/ BLUETOOTH by Niall McKay/ A technology
named afte
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iview1.newsedge-web.com Financial Times, Surveys ITD1 via NewsEdge Corporation : Electronics, computer and device
manufactures are gearing up for the next big development in the technology industry: no
wires.
More than 1,300 companies such as IBM, Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia, and Microsoft are throwing
their considerable weight behind a new initiative called Bluetooth that will enable electronic
devices to talk to each other over the ether.
Market research firm Cahners In-Stat group says that by 2005, there will be more than 670m
Bluetooth-enabled devices on the market.
The technology, named after the 10th-century King Harald of Denmark, who had bad teeth
and united warring factions, is designed to unite computers, printers, TV's, VCRs, and even
headphones by allowing them to communicate freely.
In fact, any Bluetooth device within 30ft of another will be able to exchange voice and data at
rates of one megabit per second. It will even work around corners and through walls.
"Bluetooth will revolutionise the electronic and communications device market," says Brian
Shafer, Microsoft's mobile device marketing manager. "Because for the first time, all devices
can become connected to each other and therefore to the internet."
What does this mean? To Ericsson, it means that cellphone users can insert a headset (about
the same size and shape as a hearing aid) into their ear, and it will use the cellphone or
electronic organiser in their pocket to dial the number and connect to the outside world.
To IBM, it means users can print documents on a printer in another room, or access the
internet via a cellphone in a brief case, or synchronise data with their electronic organiser.
And to audio manufacturer Bose, it means that its hi-fi systems no longer need wires, so
consumers can place speakers in any location in their house.
"But such applications are only the beginning," says Philip Carrier, Lucent Microelectronics
general manager. "As the technology gets cheaper, it will work its way into virtually every
electronic device and will create hundreds of new applications."
For example, electronic organisers with MP3 digital music players will enable fans to play their
favourite album over their home stereo system, pop the device in their pocket and listen to it
on headphones, or get into their car and continue playing the music over the in-car audio
system.
Some even believe that Bluetooth will dispense with the need for cash and credit cards.
By 2004, at least 75 per cent of new mobile phones shipped will support direct e-cash
payment via Bluetooth links to shop terminals and vending machines, according to recent
research by the Gartner Group.
Such applications, say industry experts, may use voiceprint technology for users' verification.
Meanwhile, Ericsson has joined forces with Electrolux to create the smart fridge.
At this year's CeBIT exhibition in Germany, the companies demonstrated a technology that
combined Bluetooth with active tags so that when a fridge sees that the milk is getting low, it
can notify a mobile phone's shopping list that will in turn dial the local grocer and order fresh
supplies.
However, it will be at least two years before such wonders appear in mass-market consumer
items because Bluetooth uses its own frequency (2.5 Ghz) and therefore needs a dedicated
silicon chip.
Currently, these chips cost between Dollars 15 and Dollars 20, but as with all consumer
electronic items, prices will drop rapidly, according to industry officials.
For example, chip design company Silicon Systems expects to get its Bluetooth offerings
below Dollars 5 dollars within the next 12 to 18 months.
"If this technology is to be included in cellphones, then the price point has to be almost zero,"
said Kevin Fielding, chief technology officer with Silicon Systems.
"The cellphone manufactures are working to very tight margins."
The technology does have its limitations, however. For one thing, Bluetooth's bandwidth is
unlikely to exceed 10 megabits per second even in the next five years.
For another, only eight devices can transfer data or three can transfer voice at any one time.
This is because the Bluetooth was designed primarily consumer electronics or home
networking market.
Despite this, Bluetooth's ease of use and convenience will make it attractive to corporate
computer users.
Already, cellphone manufactures are developing technology that will enable cellphone users
to talk over the GSM network while outdoors and then, once inside their office, transfer the call
to the internal network and use Bluetooth to continue the conversation.
Furthermore, it is likely that the technology will also be deployed in corporate conference
rooms so that visiting dignitaries can display PowerPoint presentations stored on their laptops
on corporate overhead projectors.
Such convenience may bring with it a completely new set of problems.
"Too much connectivity can be a bad thing," says Richard Barber, group technical adviser for
security consultancy Integralis.
"It will create a security nightmare for the systems administrators." Especially because, he
points out, Bluetooth can work through walls.
"You could have some guy in the car park reading the corporate secrets with a Palm Pilot if
the company fails to build a secure networks with the appropriate firewalls," he warns.
However, one analyst believes that it will take some time for Bluetooth to fulfil its promise.
"I don't see too much connectivity being a problem for quite a while," said Seamus McAteer,
director of web strategies for the research consultancy Jupiter Communications.
"Computer vendors are notorious for taking a supposedly common standard and 'improving
upon it' so that it becomes incompatible with other vendors' implementation of that same
standard."
Still, if Bluetooth even fulfils half its promise, it will change the electronics and computing
landscape for ever. |
