Bluetooth Moves Past the Hype, Into the Enterprise

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/qna/0,289202,sid40_gci940770,00.html' target='_blank'>http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/qna/0,289202,sid40_gci940770,00.html</a><br /><br /></div>"Bluetooth has already been through a cycle of hype and disappointment, which is one of the ways you can tell that the short-range wireless technology is finally ready for the big time, said Burton Group senior analyst Mike Disabato. Another indicator is a bit more concrete: With a million units shipping each month, more Bluetooth-enabled devices will have shipped by the end of the year than Wi-Fi-enabled devices. <br /><br />Disabato just finished a report, "Bluetooth: Up Close and Personal Networking," that examines the growth of Bluetooth and its place in the enterprise. In an interview with SearchMobileComputing.com, Disabato shares some of his insight on how to manage this emerging technology..."<br /><br />Quite an interesting article. There's a lot to like about Bluetooth, but I have yet to see a software implementation on the desktop that actually makes it easy to set Bluetooth up. Microsoft needs to adopt Bluetooth and make it native in Windows XP, and create a basic UI for the functionality, because every software implementation I've seen for Bluetooth on the desktop is a GUI nightmare. :?

[Kris Kumar]

Windows XP Service Pack 2 is supposed to have Bluetooth support. I believe its supposed to be released in the first half of next year. So things are looking up.

[Mike Temporale]

Last I heard it was bumped up from mid next year to "very soon". Heavy hints on it being released by year end. However, it does't look like they'll hit year end. I personally expect it sometime in Jan.

[pdantic]

Hey, I'm pretty happy with the way Mac OS X 10.3 (aka Panther) handles Bluetooth! :D

Seriously, let's hope Microsoft gets XP up to speed with BT ASAP.

[Mike Temporale]

A couple years ago before XP was released, I remember reading an article explaining the Microsoft has decided to build in support for USB2.0, WiFi, but leave out Bluetooth. And at the time it made sense. There was little happening in the Bluetooth world back then.

Bluetooth has only really started to take off in the last 6-8 months, as more devices are shipping with it built in.

Now that there is a significant Bluetooth market share out there, it makes sense to include support. They really should have been a little more prepared for this, and had support built in to SP1 because that was when the market was really starting to pick up.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to the built in support. With any luck, it might finally be reliable. :wink: