Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Bluegoof's Back

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 14:15:21 -0500

Bluegoof's Back

After a rocky start, with problems ranging from interoperability issues to
competition from Wi-Fi, Bluegoof has found its niche. Declared ‘dead’ not long
ago, Bluegoof has been saved by thinking small. Now, Bluetooth is touted as
a cable cutter, and technologists are integrating it into a range of devices such
as printers, camcorders, handheld computers and wireless phones. By 2006,
IDC analysts predict that nearly 80 percent of new wireless phones and 70
percent of handled computers will be Bluetooth-enabled, up from 2.7 percent
and 1.1 percent in 2002, respectively. Palm, Sony, HP, Plantronics and Apple
are among the companies that have incorporated this short-range wireless
technology into their products.
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SPECIAL REPORT: TECHNOLOGY

FROM THE ARCHIVES: March 31, 2003

The Other Wireless Technology
It may not be getting the hype of Wi-Fi, but Bluetooth is
showing up in a surprising number of devices

By PUI-WING TAM
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

When Bluetooth made its debut in the late 1990s, the short-range
wireless technology was hailed as a cure-all that would revolutionize the
way people interacted with their mobile devices.

But then reality intruded, as Bluetooth was hit by a variety of
problems, from interoperability issues to its overshadowing by the
seemingly far more potent technology known as wireless fidelity, or
Wi-Fi. By 2001, few companies were using Bluetooth in their
products, and the technology seemed dead on arrival.

Well, maybe the hype wasn't so off base, after all.

In 2002, Hewlett-Packard Co., Sony Corp., Palm Inc., Plantronics
Inc., and other tech companies began embedding Bluetooth into a
slew of devices such as printers, camcorders and handheld computers.
In January, Apple Computer Inc. unveiled two new laptops with
built-in Bluetooth . And the technology is starting to surface in other
gadgets, including headsets, computer mice and mobile phones, as well
as in bigger-ticket items such as luxury cars.

"An installed base of Bluetooth devices is finally being built," says
Kevin Burden, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham,
Mass. "The technology is gaining momentum again after cresting a hill."

So how did Bluetooth manage to come back after being declared
dead? Essentially, it was saved by small thinking.

Rather than touting Bluetooth as a wireless panacea, many tech
companies are using Bluetooth as a simple surrogate for cables and
wires.

Bluetooth uses a radio link in the 2.4 gigahertz radio spectrum to
wirelessly connect devices within short distances, about 10 to 100
yards. In the past, some Bluetooth advocates overhyped the
technology as a key building block for large wireless networks. That
turned out to be a stretch as Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies
exhibited far more range than Bluetooth . But Bluetooth can be used
in straightforward tasks such as connecting your headset with your
cellphone by just one easy push of a button. No wires or plugging in
required. "As a cable replacement, Bluetooth is a no-brainer," says
Leslie Fiering, a vice president at research firm Gartner Inc.

With its new job as a cable cutter, Bluetooth may finally have found a
niche from which it can grow, analysts say. IDC forecasts that nearly
80% of new mobile phones will be Bluetooth-enabled by 2006, up
from about 2.7% last year. Meanwhile, 70% of handheld computers are expected to be
Bluetooth-ready
in 2006, up from just 1.1% in 2002, according to IDC.

Bluetooth Defender

Handheld computer maker Palm, Milpitas, Calif., is one tech company that says it will be
bringing more
Bluetooth products onto the market over the next several years. Palm began mentioning
Bluetooth as
the next big thing for mobile devices as early as 2000, prior to its initial public
offering. But by 2001, with
few companies having adopted Bluetooth into gadgets, Palm had to defend its interest in
the technology.

"It took a long time -- longer than anyone expected -- to get Bluetooth to the point where
it could be
shipped to customers," says Eric Klein, a Palm manager of software product management.

In early 2002, Palm finally introduced its first Bluetooth product, a small card that
could be inserted into
some of its handheld devices to allow them to connect to any other Bluetooth-enabled
product. Late last
year, Palm also launched its Tungsten T devices, its first handheld model with built-in
Bluetooth . Along
with the gadget, Palm bundled several software applications that make use of Bluetooth's
wireless
capabilities. One is BlueChat, a wireless instant-messaging software, which allows two or
more people
with Tungsten Ts to secretly and wirelessly exchange real-time notes with one another if
they're in the
same room. "We wanted to show the simple collaboration of two Palms talking to one
another," says
Mr. Klein.

Underlining its commitment to Bluetooth , Palm has wired its entire Milpitas headquarters
with
Bluetooth access nodes so that its employees can constantly make use of the technology.

Apple, the Cupertino, Calif., personal-computer maker, began examining Bluetooth in
earnest in early
2002, says Philip Schiller, a senior vice president of world-wide product marketing. The
company
spotted Bluetooth's potential as a wireless-connectivity technology that could cut cords
and reduce the
clutter that comes with cables. Late last year, Apple built support for Bluetooth into the
latest version of
its operating system, Mac OS X. In January, the company introduced 12-inch and 17-inch
screen
PowerBook laptops with embedded Bluetooth , and it now also offers Bluetooth as an option
in its
Power Mac and iMac desktop computers.

Mr. Schiller says Apple sees Bluetooth serving several main functions. Consumers can use
Bluetooth
to wirelessly synchronize data on their handheld organizers or mobile phones with a
computer. In
addition, laptop customers who may want to wirelessly surf the Internet can now use
Bluetooth as a
short-range alternative to Wi-Fi networks, which cover wider areas. Consumers can
wirelessly connect
their Bluetooth-ready computer to their Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone, which can then
connect to a
phone line to draw down wireless data.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth "don't compete," says Mr. Schiller. Wi-Fi, he says, is "high-speed,
but it doesn't
have the same kind of ubiquity as a Bluetooth mobile phone."

Kinks to Work Out

Yet even with the burgeoning number of Bluetooth-ready products this year, analysts warn
the
technology still has limitations that need to be worked out. Some companies are continuing
to shy away
from Bluetooth , choosing instead to go with the higher-speed and longer-range Wi-Fi. For
example,
electronics maker Canon Inc., which manufactures a large line of printers, has decided to
focus primarily
on Wi-Fi for now.

"For photo printing, which is the hallmark of the Canon Bubble Jet line, faster
[Wi-Fi]-type connections
are needed," says Roberto Lebron, a Canon spokesman. "For text only, Bluetooth is
acceptable."

The biggest issue with Bluetooth remains its lack of interoperability with other devices.
William Clarke,
a Gartner analyst, notes that the complexity of Bluetooth creates numerous combinations of
testing
patterns, or profiles, for the technology. As a result of these different profiles,
individual products can be
configured in more than one way. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, a tech-industry
trade
association in Overland Park, Kan., looking to further the development of Bluetooth , at
first
encouraged this because the group thought more companies would innovate with the
technology. But
now many of the devices don't interoperate with one another. "There is no guarantee that
different
products will work together," Mr. Clarke says.

Tech companies say they are working to overcome interoperability flaws by collaborating
with
Bluetooth developers to ensure that applications and hardware do operate together.
Hewlett-Packard,
for example, formed a Bluetooth printing group in the late 1990s in order to create a
single, standard
Bluetooth printing profile that is being incorporated into numerous devices. That way, all
devices that
use that profile can operate seamlessly with H-P's Bluetooth-enabled printers, says George
Mulhern, a
senior vice president in H-P's printing group.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group is also working to fix the interoperability problem,
says Mike
McCamon, executive director. The group's main focus is developing Bluetooth to be a
short-range
wireless technology to help reduce the clutter of wires. In December, the SIG unveiled a
program known
as "Five-Minute Ready," which essentially provides guides and tools for consumers to learn
how to make
their Bluetooth-enabled devices work and interoperate within a five-minute time frame.

In addition, Mr. McCamon says the SIG is launching a bigger effort to educate consumers on
Bluetooth
, including providing trouble-shooting tools, a glossary and answers to frequently asked
questions on the
technology.

"We are on the right course," says Mr. McCamon, noting that there are now more than 1,000
Bluetooth-enabled products on the market, up from just 60 products a year ago. "This is
just the very
beginning of the Bluetooth story."

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB104854093237972100-search,00.html?collection=wsjie%2F30day&vql_string=bluetooth%3Cin%3E%28article%2Dbody%29

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