re: ARC Group on Bluetooth Handsets, Accessories & Applications Y Bluetooth with Java
A new study from market research firm ARC reports that cellphones, PDAs and headsets will be the main drivers for Bluetooth in the first phase of its deployment. The author, Karen Walsh, explains her reasoning and the ARC forecast for Bluetooth handsets is VERY interesting.
>> Cellphone-Centric Devices To Determine Bluetooth's Future
Paul Rasmussen
Karen Walsh
Bluetooth World
Issue 6
01 December 2001
Handsets
ARC Group believes that the market for Bluetooth mobile handsets will grow from an initial 1.4 million this year to 16.2 million in 2002, reaching nearly 100 million in 2003. Bluetooth mobile phones will be most users' first Bluetooth device, and as such we feel this is an important market for Bluetooth.
To the benefit of Bluetoth, GPRS has now finally arrived. This will bring more data-centric networks, enabling more sophisticated applications and will be instrumental in facilitating consumer interest in handset renewal and the uptake of even more sophisticated data services. This, in turn, will lead to increased data traffic and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).
Globally, the Bluetooth handset market is set to really take off from 2003, when volume production of chips will have begun and Bluetooth chip solutions are at levels of $5 and less. This 2003 timeframe will also tie in with the introduction of 3G networks and a consumer population that will use their 3G/Bluetooth handsets to act as a bridge between a faster wider-area network and their personal, portable devices. Continued growth is expected through 2004 as increasing numbers of handsets and operators support the technology. By 2006, ARC Group estimates that nearly 780 million handsets will be Bluetooth-enabled, which represents over 70 per cent of mobile devices sold in that year.
Pdas/HPCs
However, mobile phones are not likely to drive the market for Bluetooth on their own, as this is a market that will benefit from the network effect, which means that these devices work best in conjunction with other Bluetooth-enabled products. PDAs/HPCs will play a big role in early Bluetooth adoption, especially among professional users. These mobile computing devices will be available with integrated Bluetooth but in much smaller percentage rates than mobile phones. Rather the majority of PDAs/HPCs will become Bluetooth-enabled through adapter products, such as compact flash cards, clip-on devices and Bluetooth sleeves.
Red-M is one firm at the forefront of developing wireless connectivity solutions which hopes to drive the take-up of Bluetooth with its add-on devices. These are aimed initially at business users for use both on the road with their mobile phones, and in the office when in range of Red-M's access points and servers. The company has released a clip-on Bluetooth device for the PalmVx, which attaches to the back of the handheld, and is priced at $199. Red-M has also launched a Bluetooth module for Handspring Visor handheld computers, which can be inserted into the Springboard expansion slot in the back of the device making the Handspring Visor Platinum, Edge, Prism, Pro&Neo Bluetooth-enabled. Priced at $179, the Red-M Blade for Handspring is available from a number of retail outlets.
Socket Communications recently announced the expansion of its range of plug-in connectivity and data collection products, making it the leading provider of CompactFlash plug-in expansion products for Pocket PC 2002 and other Windows CE-powered handheld devices. The new products include the Bluetooth connection kit that will be offered to customers for a suggested retail price of $179.
TDK Systems Europe has unveiled a clip-on device, the blue5, which is embedded with Bluetooth software and fits directly to the back of existing PalmV and Vx series devices and retails for £149. The company, which says the device will bridge the gap between mobile telephony and computing, hopes to integrate Bluetooth technology into handheld devices sooner rather than later to satisfy the demands of business users.
Bluetooth PDAs/HPCs will also help to drive the early markets for gaming, music and imaging. The market for these application-specific devices is still in its infancy and will only really begin to develop in significant numbers when there is an installed base of Bluetooth devices such as phones, headsets, PDA/HPC and USB adapters.
Bluetooth Handsets (Million), 2001-2006
Million (Units) 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Bluetooth handsets 1.4 16.2 98.3 237.3 487.3 779.7
Bluetooth Headsets
One of the simplest, most tangible scenarios for Bluetooth use is in the removal of cables between a headset and the device to which it is connected. Bluetooth's low-power, low-cost wireless, and most importantly non-proprietary solution, has the potential to bring wireless headsets to the mass market.
Bluetooth headsets will initially be used with Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, but this market will increase to include headset use with personal stereos, portable gaming devices, notebook computers, PDAs/HPCs etc. thanks to Bluetooth's non-proprietary nature, a Bluetooth headset may be used with any other Bluetooth device that supports the headset profile.
Today's headsets are limited by mono sound quality, which is unlikely to encourage their use for portable music listening. So, users will have to wait for the introduction of the a/v profile and next-generation headsets, which may contain two earpieces for the reception of stereo audio and encourage diversity of use between devices.
ARC Group believes it very likely that Bluetooth headsets will replace their wired counterparts for personal stereos, mini-disc and MP3 players, sometime in 2003, and will have the effect of driving the penetration of Bluetooth headsets from 1.6 per cent of headset devices in 2002, to 48 per cent sold in 2004.
Qualified Bluetooth headsets are available from Ericsson, Digianswer and GN Netcom.
Java & Bluetooth
Because J2ME and Bluetooth are both designed with the same portable, connected and limited-capacity devices in mind, it follows that if the two could be made to work together, devices and users could benefit from Java's ability to download applications from networked sources, combined with Bluetooth's connectivity capability. This combination would open users up to a huge variety of potential new, unforeseen and user-specific applications. As an example of the possibilities created by merging Bluetooth and Java in the same device, some usage scenarios are outlined below.
In-Store M-Commerce
Using a Bluetooth and Java-based PDA/HPC to detect the store's Bluetooth network and download an applet that optimised shopping lists for that particular store, shoppers could get the exact location of any given item, find out about alternatives for out-of-stock goods, and automatically transmit grocery lists to various store departments so that orders could be prepared without waiting.
Remote Control
A universal remote control that supports a Java-based appliance networking standard, based on Jini and Bluetooth, senses all compatible devices and allows the user to designate a given appliance for control by selecting a soft key on its touch-screen LCD pad. Once a device (e.g. home theatre system) is selected, a Java applet is downloaded via Bluetooth from the selected system to the remote, and gives the user total control over the device.
Other Applications
At the airport, a user's Bluetooth/Java-enabled mobile phone could be used to detect the Bluetooth network operated by the airline they are travelling with and download a check-in applet. The same cellphone could be used to download applets from a cinema, allowing them to view what movies were on, decide what to see, where to sit, book their seat and order some popcorn.
There will be a multitude of applications enabled by Java's ability to download applets over the Bluetooth network. The combination of the two technologies opens up a range of opportunities for application developers, chip makers and device manufacturers initially. However, this will spread throughout the value chain as devices become more prolific and applets can be downloaded in places ranging from garage forecourts to the factory floor.
Few companies are active in this space at the moment and it seems the combined Bluetooth/Java device concept is not being actively marketed to a wide enough array of companies as yet. One of the main proponents of combined Bluetooth/Java, Zucotto Wireless, has achieved qualification for a Bluetooth Protocol Stack for Java Platforms from the Bluetooth SIG.
Based on this, Zucotto Wireless has introduced its latest product, version 2.0 of the Whiteboard SDK Bluetooth edition. The company says that the latest version of the kit offers enhanced Integrated Development Environment (IDE) functionality and an easy-to-use, well-documented Java technology-based API for Bluetooth networking. With the Whiteboard SDK v.2.0 Bluetooth edition, Zucotto says that programmers can build, compile, debug, and emulate Java-based applications in a desktop environment, thus reducing development time and time-to-market. Zucotto's Bluetooth API will, according to the company, allow developers to create and test wireless Java applications in advance of the Java Community Process (JCP) standard API for Bluetooth technology, known as JSR-82.
The JSR-82 specification will allow Java-enabled devices to integrate into a Bluetooth environment. As part of the Sun Java Community Process, the JSR-82 Expert Group will use feedback from the community review to revise and refine JSR-82 before submitting it for public review. The JSR-82 Expert Group is led by Motorola and is made up of the following companies:
Classwave Wireless, Ericsson, Extended Systems, IBM, Knudsen, Mitsubishi Electric, Motorola, Newbury Networks, Nokia Mobile Phones, Parthus Technologies, Research In Motion (RIM), Rococo Software, Sharp Labs of America, Smart Fusion, Smart Network Devices, Sun Microsystems, Symbian, Telcordia Technologies, Threatt, and Zucotto Wireless. <<
- Eric - |
