Music to Bluetooth's Ears?
by Elisa Batista
wired.com
2:00 a.m. Dec. 7, 2000 PST
SAN JOSE, California –- It's the wireless version of Napster.
Imagine being able to swap music files with a friend by using MP3 players embedded with Bluetooth chips -- a wireless radio link that allows devices within 30 feet of each other to interact.
No company present at this week's Bluetooth Developers Conference in San Jose announced it would release MP3 players with embedded Bluetooth wireless technology. But in what may be another thorn in the side of the recording industry, a company from Ireland demonstrated a precursor to what may become the next rage in wireless technology.
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Parthus Technologies, which develops and licenses software to power mobile devices, led numerous journalists to a suite displaying its MP3 and Bluetooth platforms.
The demonstration consisted of two laptops that streamed MP3 files through a 24-bit digital signal processing circuit -– or a wireless communications filter -– into a box with a couple speakers that represented MP3 players.
"One of the scenarios we're looking at is kids with MP3 players with Bluetooth can swap tracks with each other," said Bob Tait, senior product marketing manager for the Bluetooth wireless business unit of Parthus Technologies.
"Yeah, the music industry isn't going to like that."
Indeed, cords won't be in the way of the Recording Industry Association of America fighting wireless file swapping.
"The recording industry has been working on many different delivery systems so consumers can enjoy music when they want it and how they want it," said Amy Weiss, RIAA senior vice president for communications. "But whether music is on-line or off-line, wireless or wired, it is important that intellectual property and copyright is protected."
Wired News was unable to reach Bertelsmann for comment. Bertelsmann, after months of legal tangling with Napster, is now working with the online music file exchanger.
Still, many exhibitors milling about in the San Jose Convention Center expect to see, toward the end of 2001, "multi-point access" Bluetooth devices such as the MP3 player, which can send data to up to seven other devices.
Many multi-point access products are still undergoing testing for "master-slave switching" –- to make sure that certain devices are the ones sending information to the other intended devices. Initially, single point products, such as Bluetooth-enabled wireless headsets and mobile phones, will be offered to consumers.
"There's more complexity" in single point to multi-point access, said Frank Hennekens, a manager of key accounts and licensing for Ericsson's Bluetooth division. |
