Techno-files
'Bluetooth' technology promises a true wireless existence
By Riley Gay
If you’d only heard the term in passing, you could be excused if you thought Bluetooth was the result of an extended stretch of less-than-adequate oral hygiene. In fact, it’s a concept that’s in the eyes, not the mouths, of 21st century telecom engineers.Bluetooth is the buzz word for radio communications technology that makes possible a simple and inexpensive wireless connection between people and a wide variety of electronic gadgets.
Developed by Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer Ericsson AB as a way to wirelessly link its cell phones to various accessories, Bluetooth has since evolved to enable communication between a number of other devices such as laptops, printers, digital cameras and handheld computers.
The Bluetooth vision has even been expanded to include cars and home appliances.
While two other wireless standards, 802.11 and HomeRF, are designed to create more permanent wireless networks, Bluetooth is intended to connect devices that are meant to be more mobile.
In addition, the cost to equip these devices for wireless hookup will, at least one day, be considerably less with Bluetooth than using 802.11 or HomeRF.
Named for a 10th century Danish king who unified Denmark and Norway, this technology promises a way to wirelessly “unite” a wide range of disparate devices. The reality, however, is that Bluetooth has, until recently, been more fantasy than fact.
Even with the support of a large number of high-powered technology companies, Bluetooth-enabled devices have been painfully slow to appear on the technology scene.
One of the problems encountered by its supporters was an initial lack of standards for the technology. To address this, Ericsson formed the Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group), consisting of a host of technology companies such as IBM, Intel Corp., Nokia Corp. and Toshiba, to hammer out a common protocol.
Along with the lack of a common standard was a higher-than-expected price for component parts. These roadblocks made most manufacturers understandably reluctant to commit to producing Bluetooth-enabled products.
Now, with a new standard in place and a steady drop in the cost of parts, the trickle of products is beginning to turn into a steady stream.
One of the first places Warner area residents are likely to come across this new technology is in their cellular telephones.
Cell phone manufacturers such as Motorola, Nokia and Ericsson have begun to introduce Bluetooth-enabled models. Among cellular service providers in the Tempe area, however, only Alltel Corp. is currently offering a Bluetooth model.
If you are an Alltel cellular customer, you’ll now be able to wirelessly connect to a Bluetooth-enabled earpiece for hands-free operation at work or in your car with Motorola’s 270C TimePort phone.
You can also wirelessly connect to a Bluetooth-enabled laptop computer, or one fitted with a Bluetooth PCMCIA card, to synchronize your phone’s address book and calendar.
You can even use your phone to wirelessly connect your laptop to the Internet. It shouldn’t be long before other wireless carriers follow Alltel’s lead and offer Bluetooth-enabled phones to their own customers.
Additionally, Palm has announced a Bluetooth card for use with its m500 and m505 handheld organizers, and Hewlett Packard is marketing its DeskJet 995C printer with the new technology.
With Bluetooth, you could conceivably use your cell phone to wirelessly connect your PDA or laptop to the Internet, download a document and wirelessly send it to your printer. The products and technology are here today, with more on the way. On the near horizon are digital cameras, pagers and computer peripherals, along with a number of other consumer devices.
It might seem that Bluetooth is just too good to be true and, in fact, there are some limitations to the technology. For one thing, it’s only effective at a range of about 30 feet or less. In addition, throughput is limited to 721 kbps, compared to a more than tenfold speed advantage for even the slowest version of 802.11 wireless, making Bluetooth a poor choice for networking home computers or sharing an Internet connection.
But for the uses its supporters have envisioned for the technology, these limitations shouldn’t be much of an issue.
One potential problem, however, is that both 802.11 and HomeRF technologies have enjoyed a pretty good head start in the marketplace while Bluetooth supporters have been working out the details.
Additionally, Microsoft, a member of the Bluetooth camp, has recently announced that it will exclude software support for the technology in its upcoming Windows XP operating system, at least for the time being, citing confusion over standards and a lack of proven Bluetooth hardware, although support could presumably be added at a later date.
The promise of cheap and easy wireless communication makes Bluetooth a natural for customer service-type businesses, too.
In fact, airlines, shopping malls, golf courses and hotels have all begun trials using Bluetooth to enable wireless Internet connectivity and, in the case of hotels, to allow guests to register, pay their bill and even open the door to their room with their PDAs.
In spite of the delay in getting out of the gate, and formidable competition in the wireless market, Bluetooth should eventually work itself into the thick of the wireless race.
And it just may end up a winner.
