September 1, 2000

Time keeps on ticking
Lack of software delays Bluetooth explosion

So what stands in the way of Bluetooth deployment? There's no shortage of ideas, as both the article at left and "Blue creep" prove.

And it's certainly not chips, as a number of silicon vendors have debuted their offerings (see "Cheap and easy" ). In fact, the race is already on to optimize second-generation parts. NewLogic, for instance, claims to have packed a Bluetooth baseband processor into a miniscule 30,000-gate implementation.

No, it's not lack of inventiveness nor lack of chips that's standing in Bluetooth's path, but lack of software. Specific applications such as the ZIOGolf game mentioned at left may ship soon, but the promise of any two Bluetooth devices connecting seamlessly requires that service-discovery software, such as Sun's Jini or Microsoft's Universal Plug and Play, be perfected. Watch the December issue of CommVerge for a full report on service discovery, which should also hint at a timeline for widespread Bluetooth deployment.

—Maury Wright