Bluetooth demo sucks, therefore ... sell QCOM (?)
(Also from the rocket thread).
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dailynews.yahoo.com
Sunday March 25 3:05 PM ET
Bluetooth Demo Flops at Tech Show
By HANS GREIMEL, AP Business Writer
HANOVER, Germany (AP) - It was meant as a crowning moment for a
long-promised technology designed to create a wireless link among different
devices around the home or office.
But instead, the ``Bluetooth'' demonstration at the world's biggest computer
and electronics show turned into an embarrassing flop when 100
transmitters equipped with the short-range radio technology failed to
transform a convention hall into a wireless data network for visitors with
palmtop computers.
The ill-fated bid to create the world's biggest Bluetooth network at this year's CeBIT trade fair underscored
the many obstacles that still plague the two-year-old technology.
Bluetooth is seriously hobbled by a lack of standardized code, which means that devices of different brands
often can't communicate with each other - a big flaw for a technology hailed as the next step in computer
interconnectivity. A new standardized version of Bluetooth has been developed, but the first gadgets using it
won't be ready until later this spring, and there is no guarantee that existing Bluetooth devices will be
compatible with the new version.
But such problems have done little to dim enthusiasm among high-tech companies, many of which latched
onto Bluetooth as the buzz word of CeBIT and keep developing Bluetooth products despite the quirks.
``If it didn't have problems at the beginning, it wouldn't be great technology,'' insisted Ulrich Woessner of
German Bluetooth company Lesswire AG, one of the event's organizers.
Named for a Danish king who unified his kingdoms in Denmark and Norway, Bluetooth is designed to let
computers, mobile phones, digital cameras - almost any electronic gizmo - to connect and exchange
information.
The technology is seen as ideal for short-range connections compared with infrared beams, which require a
direct line-of-sight between the devices and can't travel as far as Bluetooth radio waves.
Companies like Lesswire are developing transmitters that can act as communication hubs between different
gadgets, adding to mobility by minimizing the tangle of wires and cables.
Virtually all makers of computer hardware and consumer electronics are beefing up their offerings of
Bluetooth-enabled products. At CeBIT, which began last week and continues this week, mobile phone leader
Nokia (news - web sites) introduced its newest Bluetooth handset, and Hewlett-Packard unveiled a set of
computer accessories aimed at making several printer models Bluetooth compatible. One company, Anoto
AB of Sweden, demonstrated a digital Bluetooth pen that can transmit handwritten text to a nearby computer
or beam it as e-mail to the user's mobile phone.
The challenge, however, is making sure all Bluetooth products can communicate with each other.
``At this time, you can say that every Bluetooth product can have the same problem,'' admitted Rene Haag of
RFI Mobile Technologies, a company that makes PC cards for home and handheld computers to make them
Bluetooth compatible.
``Right now, the standard is defined, but companies are using different specifications,'' Haag said.
That problem torpedoed last week's CeBIT test, when a Bluetooth card in one of the computer servers failed
to communicate with one of the transmitting devices, Woessner said.
Anoto's Bluetooth pen was not affected by the server problem, but it exemplifies the interconnectivity
problem.
The company says it will hit the stores in December for around $100 apiece. But besides needing special
paper, the cigar-shaped pens are only compatible with Bluetooth devices made by mobile phone maker
Ericsson. Anoto says that problem will be solved, but balked at providing details.
``The demo version is only compatible with Ericsson, but the final version is a different story,'' Anoto vice
president Micco Groenholm assured.
To make matters worse, Bluetooth is also expensive. A Bluetooth card for a home computer costs up to
$250, even though it may not be compatible with the gadgets people want to use.
So far, consumer demand for Bluetooth has been anemic due to the technical problems and the high prices,
said Andy Brown, an analyst with International Data Services, an industry research firm.
But he said companies are jockeying for position now so they can be ahead of the curve when the
standardized code catches on.
``We're just at the beginning of this technology,'' Haag said. ``With the first deliveries of the new standard,
the market should be explosive.''
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