Ericsson pulls Bluetooth division

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://news.com.com/Ericsson+pulls+Bluetooth+division/2100-1039_3-5327431.html?part=rss&amp;tag=5327431&amp;subj=news.1039.5">http://news.com.com/Ericsson+pulls+Bluetooth+division/2100-1039_3-5327431.html?part=rss&amp;tag=5327431&amp;subj=news.1039.5</a><br /><br /><i>"One of the key developers of Bluetooth is shutting down the division that helped foster the personal area networking technology. Ericsson has already started to shut down its 125-worker Technology Licensing group and will reshuffle employees into other divisions, a representative confirmed Friday. A majority of the workers affected will remain with the company. Ericsson did not make a formal announcement of the closure."</i><br /><br />Ericsson isn't totally abandoning bluetooth. They will continue to use it is some of their mobile technology. They just aren't going to develop it further inhouse, which is clearly a sign that I get to use this picture again, and will continue to do so over the coming months as others give bluetooth the boot. :devilboy: <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/index.php?topic_id=6168">Verizon certainly isn't helping the bluetooth experience out</a>. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2003/20031016-bluetoothdead.gif" /><br /><br />Ericsson will leave it up to the "Bluetooth Special Interest Group" to develop bluetooth. That is the same SIG that has allowed the current messed up customer experience to happen. :roll:

[manywhere]

"One of the key developers of Bluetooth is shutting down the division that helped foster the personal area networking technology. Ericsson has already started to shut down its 125-worker Technology Licensing group and will reshuffle employees into other divisions, a representative confirmed Friday. A majority of the workers affected will remain with the company. Ericsson did not make a formal announcement of the closure."
Mmmm, 'kay. Investors and shareholders are sure happy to hear this from another source than Ericsson. :roll:


Ericsson will leave it up to the "Bluetooth Special Interest Group" to develop bluetooth. That is the same SIG that has allowed the current messed up customer experience to happen. :roll:
What!? 8O *runs screaming out of the room and slams the door causing reasonable over-pressure in the room and thus blowing out a window or two of which the glass shrapnels are distributed all over the near-by street causing an unfortunate driver who's making a call using a Bluetooth headset to get a flat tire and hurtle into a ditch*

[DubWireless]

was wondering how long it would take for a HBR* about this to appear... and your favourite piece of clip art ;)

at least you highlight Ericsson aren't dropping Bluetooth but then use that image - strange choice?

although i still remember your use of it from 6 months ago (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24758)... funny enough i read this article last month and thought of you :)
Now That Bluetooth Is Alive, It's Dead Again (http://www.thefeature.com/article?articleid=100889)


(* HBR = Hansberry Bluetooth Rant)

.

[Duncan]

Ericsson isn't totally abandoning bluetooth. They will continue to use it is some of their mobile technology.

Never one to let the facts on Bluetooth get in the way of the prejudices eh, Ed? ;)

Ericsson isn't *abandoning* Bluetooth at all. They have simply passed on the baton for control and development fully to the SIG - as they did, in practice, some time ago (c. 4 years). Their Bluetooth division has been an anachronism for some time as Sony Ericsson have moved away form in-house to using cheaper, more cost effective, third party solutions.

They just aren't going to develop it further inhouse

The article says nothing of the sort - mainly because it isnt true. While the SIG will continue joint development (as they do already) Ericsson will still work on Bluetooth (as part of the SIG) through another division.

which is clearly a sign that I get to use this picture again, and will continue to do so over the coming months as others give bluetooth the boot.

Ed - no-one has given Bluetooth the boot. You have twisted a meaningless story (the closing of an anachronistic division) to back up an unsupportable and simply *wrong* conclusion. Sony Ericsson phones continue to support Bluetooth as strongly as ever - more so in fact.

Ericsson will leave it up to the "Bluetooth Special Interest Group" to develop bluetooth.

What - you mean as they have done, effectively, for several years? There's a shocker!

That is the same SIG that has allowed the current messed up customer experience to happen. :roll:

I'm not about to waste words explaining yet again why that is not the case. No matter how much control SIGs for any technology exercise - some OEMs will still find a way to break things (see current 802.11g issues). What you never want to grasp is that it is a (increasingly small) minority who do this.

Honestly Ed - how do you read such a basic article and find so much in it that simply isn't there? You clearly haven't followed up the article's source (for fear of finding out the facts don't back up your somewhat wild conclusions?).

Let's see what we can find from the article (http://www.commsdesign.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=44300014) that was the source for Cnet:

According to Johan Akesson, vice president of marketing for Ericsson Technology Platform, "Ericsson is not pulling back from Bluetooth." He said Ericsson will continue Bluetooth software technology development through Ericsson Mobile Platforms, another subsidiary.
It will, however, discontinue its design and development of new Bluetooth products for the semiconductor industry.
The company spun off Ericsson Technology Licensing in 2000. Of its 125 employees, Akesson said 100 were working in R&D. They represented the core of Ericsson's original Bluetooth technology development team. [my emphasis]
Although Ericsson will continue its involvement in the Bluetooth Special Interest Group as a promoter of the technology, Akesson said, "We will no longer develop new hardware or new IPs based on the Bluetooth specification."

and the reason for this?:
Ericsson's decision comes as the Bluetooth standard has reached a mature state, and Bluetooth products are available in volume. "Even though large volumes are manufactured, we've found that the long-term business case for Ericsson Technology Licensing is not strong enough," Akesson said.

In other words - now that the standard is mature and the market a large volume one - the case for Ericsson makiing its own chips/doing its own R&D isn't strong enough. That *is* what generally happens when a technology matures and becomes widespread in production...!


Right - that's anothe rone of Ed's 'Bluetooth is dead' fallacies ripped to shreds - now onto the (what I supect is always the purpose of Ed's Blueooth postings) 'usual debate' that always follows. You know - posts on how because some pople can't buy a BT phone then it must be a failed technology, the occasional idiot who still wants to compare WiFi and BT, the accounts of how some couldn't pair up one device with another once etc. etc.

Ho-hum.

[Duncan]

Mmmm, 'kay. Investors and shareholders are sure happy to hear this from another source than Ericsson. :roll:

Since this changes absolutely nothing - investors and shareholders have absolutley nothing oit be concerned about. Bear in mind also that Ericsson may not have made a formal announcment (why announce the closing of a long redundant division?) - they've still happily commented on it when asked.

[bdegroodt]

Give it the boot? Not sure I follow. Personally, I think about Bluetooth as much as I think about a wall socket. I don't. I just know that it's there and it works (for me) without question. I honestly can't imagine anyone giving it the boot (unless it was poorly implemented in the first place). It seems so native to what I expect with my computers/phones/PDAs, etc.

[jnajera]

Oh please!! I have seen that picture on this site :? way too many times already! BLUETOOTH IS NOT DYING! Everytime you guys say that there are about twenty new devices that have it. Give me a break.

[Janak Parekh]

Oh please!! I have seen that picture on this site :? way too many times already! BLUETOOTH IS NOT DYING! Everytime you guys say that there are about twenty new devices that have it. Give me a break.
Hey, don't say "you guys". This is Ed's opinion, and I don't agree, but he has the right to voice it. ;) Personally, I think he just really likes the coffin picture that he made up and likes to trot it out every so often... :lol:

(Oh, and Duncan... you're spending too much energy on this. IMHO, of course. :P)

--janak

[Duncan]

(Oh, and Duncan... you're spending too much energy on this. IMHO, of course. :P)

Nah - responding to an EdH Bluettoth rant is done on pure autopilot...! ;)

[surur]

That Verizon thing is awful. Its just another argument for GSM vs that dead technology CDMA. If handsets were more portable they would not be able to get away with such a broken implementation.

Its significant however that even Verizon had to give in and add bluetooth to their phones. And when the Verizon subscribers join their friends, and they want to bluetooth them a photo, they will wonder why their phone was so broken and soon pressure the company to drop the charade, or else lose that customers revenue completely.

Surur

[jonathanchoo]

Ed, ever considered a career in spin?

[AZMark]

I was going to Lambast Ed, but Duncan beat me to it. Nice that the industry has become commoditized enough that SE doesn't have to spear head it any more.

[dMores]

on other news ...
mercedes decided to start working on engines that run on air.

oh no. gasoline is dead !

get it ?

:twisted:

(btw ... i made up that thing about mercedes and the enging that runs on air.)

oh man. this day has got to end, i'm not in control of my mind anymore ...

[Duncan]

Here's the really ironic part... if Ericsson had needed to keep its Bluetooth division, *that* would have been a sign of failure...! :)

[normaldude]

May 04, 2004

Although Bluetooth-enabled devices haven't quite entered the true mainstream yet, they are poised to take that next step, according to research finding from market anaylst firm In-Stat/MDR. With Mobile phones, PDAs, and headsets making significant strides over the last year, the automotive market beginning to make an impact, and PMG (Personal Mobile Gateway) products expected to emerge, shipments of Bluetooth-enabled manufactured equipment will experience a 60 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) between 2003 and 2008.

http://deviceforge.com/files/misc/instat-mdr-04may04.gif

[surur]

http://surur.sytes.net\notdead.gif

He is not dead, but liveth!

Surur

[stevew80]

Hi,

Not one to usually reply to threads like this, but I just couldn't ignore this one.... (In fact I joined this group just to post this!)

Here in the UK (read Europe) Bluetooth has been widely used for the last 2 / 3 years (ever since 1.1 spec was released). A few points that may be of interest to those of you on the 'other side' of the Atlantic:

1) Take the top 20 phones on sale now and BT will be in 15+ of them (hardly a dying technology)

2) It works exceptionally well, with very few compatibility issues - I use BT to connect:

HP iPaq to Dell Laptop, Tom Tom GPS & Sony Ericsson Z600 phone
Dell Laptop to Tom Tom GPS & Sony Ericsson Z600 phone
Sony Ericsson Z600 phone to Parrot Hands Free Car Bluetooth
Sony Ericsson Z600 phone to Jabra BT200 Ear Piece
The Sony Ericsson is my third Bluetooth phone, and I have yet to encounter ANY incompatibility issues with any of the kit listed.

3) BT is NOT WiFi replacement, I use both for what they were designed for:

BT for 'Personal area network' Stuff within 1m or 2m of me (Sorry 5 feet!)
WiFi - Internet access (both Laptop and iPaq) - both at home and in Starbucks etc. (Yes they are everywhere here as well!)
Finally, my last little peeve - why is it my tri-band GSM phone works everywhere in the world except big chunks of USA and Japan - To answer my own question, because big business in USA & Japan believe they can re-invent the world into their own preferred proprietary versions!

From everything I see happening in the USA, I think that coffin image needs 'photoshopping' to show CDMA poking out of it! :D

Rant over......

Steve

[Zensbikeshop]

Ericsson isn't totally abandoning bluetooth. They will continue to use it is some of their mobile technology.

Never one to let the facts on Bluetooth get in the way of the prejudices eh, Ed? ;)

&lt;SNIP>

Right - that's anothe rone of Ed's 'Bluetooth is dead' fallacies ripped to shreds - now onto the (what I supect is always the purpose of Ed's Blueooth postings) 'usual debate' that always follows. You know - posts on how because some pople can't buy a BT phone then it must be a failed technology, the occasional idiot who still wants to compare WiFi and BT, the accounts of how some couldn't pair up one device with another once etc. etc.

Ho-hum.

Thanks! Saved me the trouble.

[Blue Zero]

To be honest, I just start using and finding out how useful BT is, just a couple month ago I was still wondering what the heck is BT good for (I even made a thread)

But as everyday goes by with new and newer product having BT build in, now I totally live my day wire-free. Now I chat on phone, print, sync ppc, listen to mp3, transfer data, all by BTing. (Wonder what they think of next...)


Let just look at Bluetooth as the replacement for infared mmmmkay.

Long live Bluetooth 0X

[ignar]

Long live Bluetooth 0X

Ditto. No BT, no sales for me.
We need a nice "Long live Bluetooth" clip art!

[Brad Adrian]

I only use BT to connect my Pocket PC and phone, to use it as a modem. What are some of the other ways that you folks out there use BT?

[ignar]

GPS
ActiveSync (If you have power hungry iPaq 4150 and its battery meter is below 40%, BT is an only way to sync)
File Sharing among desktop, laptop, phones

[johncruise]

I only use BT to connect my Pocket PC and phone, to use it as a modem. What are some of the other ways that you folks out there use BT?

Good question... (this deserves to be a topic of it's own)

Mine is used for:
+ ActiveSync
+ wireless network access
+ sending messages via SMS thru my BT enabled phone (using MonkeyMessenger)
+ transferring files via my PDA to my co-workers while on meeting (I don't bring my laptop anymore at meetings)
+ connecting my BT headphone and BT phone
+ Bluejack!

[jonathanchoo]

I use mine for ActiveSync, HotSync, Network Access, SMS (using SmartGSM on PPC and SMS on PalmOS), chatting on a noisy train, BT handsfree kit, Bluetoothing and when I am away use my PDA to connect to my mobile as a modem (GPRS or wap)

[Gremmie]

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...poor Ed is still trying to convince others.

[PPCRules]

Well put, Ed.

And I think I'd agree with anything else you say on the subject.

Let's move on to something useable.

[Rob Alexander]

What!!! Bluetooth is dead?! Drat it, Ed... why didn't you warn us this might happen? :jester:

[mban]

Say Ed, how's this for a "dead" Bluetooth? According to your front page poll, 97% of the people want to have it in their PDA (some more than others).

I wish people would stop making such doomsday predictions and stick to just reporting the facts.

[Ed Hansberry]

I wish people would stop making such doomsday predictions and stick to just reporting the facts.
That would be reported at PocketPCFacts.

[Duncan]

I wish people would stop making such doomsday predictions and stick to just reporting the facts.
That would be reported at PocketPCFacts.

As opposed to PocketPCJumpToUnsupportedAndUnwarrantedConclusions...? :wink:

[Ed Hansberry]

I wish people would stop making such doomsday predictions and stick to just reporting the facts.
That would be reported at PocketPCFacts.

As opposed to PocketPCJumpToUnsupportedAndUnwarrantedConclusions...? :wink:
Yup. totally different domain. :lol:

[i]And I still say bluetooth sucks and will die a horrible death, even though I use it daily.[i]