The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is a trade association comprised leaders in the telecommunications, computing, automotive, industrial automation and network industries that is driving the development of Bluetooth wireless technology and bringing them to market. Pragati Simlote met with Eric Schneider, Blue Tooth SIG, Asia Pacific & Japan MD, to know more about the association and what are its plans for India:

What is Bluetooth SIG and what steps does the association take to promote development and adoption of Bluetooth wireless technology?

We're promoting the technology in three key areas; NOW, NEW and NEXT. We're talking to consumers about the current, or NOW, Bluetooth wireless technology applications available on the market - including wireless mobile telephony, wireless computing connections, synchronization, printing, data transfer and others.

How many Indian companies are there in this association? Does the association work with the Indian government. If yes, then what is the nature of this association?

There are 124 Indian companies under the Bluetooth SIG. A few major companies are Adam Technocrats, After Infuses, Impulse soft, Mind Tree Consulting and Tata Lexis. Currently, Bluetooth SIG is not working with the Indian government; however we are interested in working with the India Government to further promote Bluetooth technology, and this will be the next step for Bluetooth SIG in India.

What kind of growth in Bluetooth adoption do you see in India?

Bluetooth adoption in India is on track to increase significantly in the next two years. India has one of the highest mobile adoption rates in the world and while mobile phone and technology adoption is skyrocketing, the cost to develop Bluetooth wireless technology is dropping - making Bluetooth technology enabled products more readily available to Indian consumers.