A Touch Of Gray In Bluetooth's Silver Lining?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=77&e=2&u=/mc/20031111/tc_mc/atouchofgrayinbluetoothssilverlining' target='_blank'>http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...thssilverlining</a><br /><br /></div>We can't seem to put down this hot potato. :lol: This is perhaps one of the most balanced Bluetooth analyses I've read in a while, and strikes a middle ground between <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19436">Ed's opinion</a> and <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20352">my opinion</a> on the subject.<br /><br />The uptake, according to the article? <li> Bluetooth adoption in Europe is very solid, but lousy in North America -- only about 10% of the 1 million Bluetooth devices shipped per week come to the Americas as a whole. In my opinion, we can almost singlehandedly blame the CDMA carriers and their shortsightedness for that one. :roll:<br /><li> There have historically been compatibility issues and ease-of-use issues, although many of these are being straightened out. The <a href="https://www.bluetooth.org/admin/bluetooth2/news/story.php?storyid=29">adoption of the new Bluetooth 1.2 standard</a>, which improves speed and is more robust to interference, may help.<br /><li> Trends still seem to suggest that Bluetooth will become a mainstream technology in about 18 months.<br /><li> However, UWB is on the horizon and may pose significant competition if it can get broader acceptance and implementation. For a change, someone in the press seems to understand the market. Without a doubt, BT has its challenges, but cable replacement technology (either via BT or its successors) continues to have increasing influence and promise.

[Thinkingmandavid]

Bluetooth is here to stay. It won't be gone tomorrow nor the next, it will last for certain some years to come. What the cdma carriers arent using is their loss. I suppose they want people to connect their phone to a pda via cable :roll: if :roll: or magic :roll:
It takes the blue tooth orthey are going to have to sell the secure digital modem, or compact flash modem with their technology, but still doesnt meet all the customers needs, so duh on sprint and verizon

[kiwi]

Just some random thoughts:

why is it that North America is lagging at times in technology and appliaction? Especially as the Americans seem to have a stereotype of wanting the "BIGGEST and BEST".

Okay, I am glad that GSM is now more popular here, but there are some other things here that really annoy me, BT and modern handsets for instance.. but then on other matters, Nth America does well. Ie. Cost of hardware is coming down - I think its economics of scale here..

could it be marketing?

b.

[Racer-X]

It takes the blue tooth orthey are going to have to sell the secure digital modem...
What? Can you put that in sober english for me?

[Ed Hansberry]

* Trends still seem to suggest that Bluetooth will become a mainstream technology in about 18 months.
I've been hearing that since 1999. I'd love for it to happen, but don't see it.

[dh]

I think that if the CDMA carriers, especially Sprint with their sensible data pricing, were to actually introduce BT phones, it would make a huge difference.

Like a lot of people, I've been waiting for the SE T608 phone to be released. Despite SE giving up on CDMA the phone was supposed to have arrived by now. I wonder if it ever will. Why did Sprint even bother with the Vision service? So a bunch of kids can send rude photos to each other?

I'm tempted to go with GSM and GPRS. Problem is that data transfer can be so s-l-o-w and T-Mobile - the only decent data plans - has poor (ie zero) coverage in a lot of areas I need to travel to.

So here we are with GSM having good equipment, slow speed and poor coverage and Sprint with good coverage and speed but no equipment. I would love to use BT, but there is nothing for me personally to buy. :(

It takes the blue tooth orthey are going to have to sell the secure digital modem, or compact flash modem with their technology, but still doesnt meet all the customers needs, so duh on sprint and verizon
You know that Sprint have a CF connection card, sells for about $175.00. Problem is that their unlimited data plan is $80.00 (or more!) so by the time you have a cell phone as well it's bloody expensive. Verizon only have PCMCIA cards. Try sticking one of those up yer CF Slot - Painful!!

At the moment I'm sticking with drinking lots of coffee at Starbucks or Borders and using the T-Mobile WiFi. Just wish my hands would stop shaking. :D

[Thinkingmandavid]

Racer-X What? Can you put that in sober english for me?
hehe, sorry about that, seems I was thinking about something and typing, anyway.


You know that Sprint have a CF connection card, sells for about $175.00. Problem is that their unlimited data plan is $80.00 (or more!)
Yeah i know about that, but my point was they are not carrying bluetooth phones, but they want you to use their net connection. However, it is extra money on top of your cell phone plan, such as the 80.00 for the amount of usage. It is cf but what about sd users?
I think some ppc users want to use use bluetooth and use their minutes without having to pay extra money on top of their plan, such as myself with Cingular :rock on dude!:

[bdegroodt]

All I can say is I sure am greatful for BlueTooth. Been using it for a year and a half now and it's done very well by me. 8) I remember the old days of cables on the road and I hated it. Not sure it's the ultimate solution to all things cable free, but until there's better, it's the least of my tech worries right now.

[dh]

All I can say is I sure am greatful for BlueTooth. Been using it for a year and a half now and it's done very well by me. 8) I remember the old days of cables on the road and I hated it. Not sure it's the ultimate solution to all things cable free, but until there's better, it's the least of my tech worries right now.
And at least you don't get a caffine overdose and have to keep stopping to use the loo all the time. Of course there is never a Starbucks when you need one either. :D

I think some ppc users want to use use bluetooth and use their minutes without having to pay extra money on top of their plan, such as myself with Cingular :rock on dude!:
Am I right in thinking that using a dial up arrangement with your cellular minutes is much slower than GPRS?

[bdegroodt]

Am I right in thinking that using a dial up arrangement with your cellular minutes is much slower than GPRS?

Very much. May not be so bad for email only, but I wouldn't push it past that.

Speaking of BlueTooth...Whatever happened to the BlueTooth enabled luggage we discussed a year or so ago? :roll:

Seriously though, is anyone using BT for anything beyond the typical phone to pda or laptop pairing? I do think that in order for it to survive it's going to have to make it beyond that application and into something a consumer can get behind.

[disconnected]

I'm using it to connect to a GPS receiver. It works well (although not quite as well with PPC 2003 as it did with PPC 2002). I think there are several brands of bluetooth GPS receivers being sold now.

I've also been waiting for Sprint's mythical bluetooth phone.

[eustts]

Personally, I am tired of the Bluetooth debate. I have used it from it's inception, and not had any problems.

[Janak Parekh]

Personally, I am tired of the Bluetooth debate. I have used it from it's inception, and not had any problems.
That's why I liked this article. It doesn't frame it as a "debate", but honestly points out what's succeeded and what has not. I wish we had more BT devices here. The implications in so many applications, including business card beaming, wireless gaming, and of course Internet access are limitless.

--janak

[ctmagnus]

In my experience, Bluetooth just works - as long as you have the right OS ;)

[Brad Adrian]

I use Bluetooth a lot, but simply to connect my 2215 to the Net via my T68i phone. What I have NOT done, and which was promised at the outset, is set things up so that whenever I walk into the room that has my PC in it, synchronization automatically starts. I want to be able to set up the necessary security/discovery/pairing so that I don't even have to perform a single screen tap...it should just happen.

I've not really seen a way to make it this automatic, unless somebody out there can give me a bit of guidance.

[Philip Colmer]

Seriously though, is anyone using BT for anything beyond the typical phone to pda or laptop pairing? I do think that in order for it to survive it's going to have to make it beyond that application and into something a consumer can get behind.

British Telecom in the UK are working with Sony Ericsson on something called bluephone. The idea here is that this is a dual-mode handset that works with a cellular network if you are on the move but, if you are close to a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth access point, the call is routed via that to the landline network, thus saving call costs.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/33907.html for some additional details.

I'm quite excited about the possibilities of this particular product. BT tried it before using a GSM/DECT combo handset, but it didn't take off - I think they were ahead of the times, plus it really was two radio systems glued together, which made the handset quite bulky. If SE have managed to design the handset so that it isn't any bigger than a normal mobile, they could have a winner.

The only drawback that I can immediately think of is that the distance from the access point might not be as great as you can achieve with DECT. Hmmm ... and multiple handsets? Well, it still has some very interesting possibilities :-)

--Philip

[Duncan]

While the referenced article is largely a good and balanced one - I'm always staggered at the lack of basic research that allows someone to mention UWB as a future contender! Putting aside the extreme unliklihood that a widespread agreement, of the type that BT has behind it, will happen agiain to support another standard - UWB has many legislative (and one or two technological) hurdles to jump before it can even begin to match the potential of BT!!!

Seriously though, is anyone using BT for anything beyond the typical phone to pda or laptop pairing? I do think that in order for it to survive it's going to have to make it beyond that application and into something a consumer can get behind.

Yes. Headphone, PDA, mobile phone, printer, GPS, PC - so far that's six BT enabled items (and six cables avoided with all the irritation they involve!).

[mobile]

Yes, BT is used for many other things than connecting a PDA to a mobile phone or syncing a phone or PDA to a computer. For example there are companies using BT connectivity for industrial robots to do ad-hoc connections and giving the robots instructions from a central system. Obviously, it isn't optimal to hardwire robots in a factory that is set up for just-in-time production and where production lines have to be rearranged on short notice. Therefore, BT is a good option. Moreover, many car manufacturers are now starting to build BT into cars as a way to get data to a car navigation system (which combined with GPS can be very powerful) or provide handsfree talking to the driver (a result of more and more common legislation against talking and holding the phone while driving). Lastly, I've seen companies using BT in medical equipment (blood pressure measuring units, etc.), which talks wirelessly to a computer in, for example, an ambulance, and then transmits all the pertinent data to the hospital so that the staff at the hospital already has access to the patient's condition when the patient arrives at the E.R.

These are just a few applications that I'm aware of. I'm sure there a hundreds, if not thousands, of other interesting applications out there.

/// mobile

[Duncan]

Heh...! No sooner do I mention the likely problems over UWB than a standards war starts to brew!! - http://news.zdnet.co.uk/0,39020330,39117845,00.htm

[Janak Parekh]

UWB has many legislative (and one or two technological) hurdles to jump before it can even begin to match the potential of BT!!!
Oh, without question. I think you're not going to see UWB for several years, and it fundamentally poses some hard questions. However, should BT have an up-and-coming competitor, UWB is currently "it". If that's the only one, BT has a relatively clear road ahead of them...

--janak