 | September 1, 2000 |
Blue creep
ANALYSIS: The Bluetooth standard starts to stretch
With the first Bluetooth products set to launch later this year, developers are already looking to extend the transmission technology well beyond its initial conception as a short-range wireless connection between, say, an Internet-connected cell phone and a notebook PC or between a cell phone and a hands-free headset.
For example, Red-M, a recent spinoff of Madge Networks, has garnered accolades from the Bluetooth community for its wireless Internet server, which won best product at June's Bluetooth Congress. The system enables notebook PCs, mobile phones, PDAs, and WAP (wireless application protocol) smart phones to share access to the Internet, a corporate intranet, and emerging data and voice services. Combining Bluetooth with the Linux operating system, the Internet server targets small- and medium-sized companies or small offices within a corporation. The first products from Red-M are due by the end of this year.
In more recent news, Red-M partnered with voice-over-DSL (VoDSL) provider CopperCom to enable mobile devices to access DSL services via a Bluetooth connection. As part of the agreement, Red-M is licensing CopperCom's VoDSL specification, which delivers high-speed data and up to 24 voice lines simultaneously over a single copper wire. According to the companies, this partnership will enable CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers) to offer a range of personalized wireless services for small-office subscribers.
The use of wireless LANs to connect small-office and home users to high-speed Internet pipes has gotten much attention recently. Whether Bluetooth fits the bill, however, has yet to be proven. Other alternatives, notably IEEE 802.11b, benefit from a robust LAN-like MAC (media access control) layer, which provides shared Internet access, something Bluetooth lacks.
Red-M, however, contends that, due to its low cost, Bluetooth will be come as standard equipment on PCs, cellular telephones, printers, PDAs, fax machines, keyboards, joysticks, and even toys. Moreover, Red-M says that Bluetooth's features go far beyond that offered by other in-building wireless standards. Conventional wireless standards emulate a wired LAN, according to the company, while Bluetooth opens the door for more inventive applications. For example, the company outlines a three-in-one phone that would offer cellular capabilities, a Bluetooth base station, and Bluetooth intercom functions. Other possibilities include automatic synchronization between PCs, PDAs, and mobile phones, and file transfers independent of operating system.
—Margot Suydam
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