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Bluetooth bounces back with new gadgets

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CIOL Bureau
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NEW YORK: Bluetooth wireless, considered tech roadkill just a few years ago, has been resurrected by the release of a slew of gadgets and widespread industry support.



Bluetooth, a technology standard developed by Ericsson, lets users interconnect phones, PCs, keyboards and headsets through a wireless link. More versatile than traditional infrared connections, Bluetooth does not require a direct line-of-sight between two gadgets to operate.



DaimlerChrysler, Toyota Motor Corp., Toshiba Corp., Sony Corp., Nokia and Microsoft are among a handful of manufacturers committed to resuscitating the technology.



Unlike WiFi, or Wireless Fidelity, that can be found in Starbucks coffee shops and airport terminals, Bluetooth works only within a 30-foot radius of the device and is designed to replace cables.



Computer accessories maker Logitech plans to sell a sleek keyboard and mouse set that connects to PCs without cables. Motorola Corp. is launching snazzy high-end cellphones that can be linked to wireless headsets and digital handheld organizers. Car makers are also hoping to abandon clunky hands-free speaker systems in favor of Bluetooth capabilities.



Just two years ago, Bluetooth, introduced in the early 1990s, appeared destined for the technological scrap heap.



"Initial expectations were overblown," said Alex Slawsby, senior analyst of mobile devices at IDC. "It was a solution to a problem no one thought they had."



But now, helped by growing industry support, shipments of Bluetooth devices are expected to increase about 60 percent in 2004 to 88 million units from 55 million units sold in 2003, according to Gartner.



"In the near term, we still see Bluetooth gaining incremental adoption as a cable replacement," said William Clark, research director at Gartner.



These projections are conservative compared with the industry and media frenzy over Bluetooth in the late 1990s. "We are continuing to downgrade our forecast in terms of overall growth in the next three to four years," Clark said.



It was once hailed as the dawn of a new era in the telecoms and PC industries. But like a hot date gone awry, consumers could rarely get it to connect.



The Bluetooth Special Interest Group, made up of a cross section of top technology and telecommunications companies, went back to the drawing board, with an eye toward making the devices easier to use.



Mike McCamon, executive director of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, said new devices are expected to work within five minutes of opening the box.



Usability improvements helped convince car makers to start exploring ways to use it to address recent legislation to ban cellphone use while driving.



Honda Motor Co. began building features to replace traditional hands-free phone systems by designing new Acura TL models with the ability to use the technology to connect to existing Bluetooth phones.



Toyota's Prius, a hybrid gasoline/electric motor car, and DaimlerChrysler's Pacifica luxury sport utility vehicle offer it as an option.



"It's a good indication it'll get down to the mainstream," said Joyce Putscher, director at tech research firm In-Stat/MDR.



Still, some analysts express caution against replacing cables just yet.



"Bluetooth products work well within a single vendor," said Clark, pointing out that even now, devices from one company don't always play well with others.



Users of Nokia's 6600 phone, available in Europe and Asia, have complained about its inability to link with certain Sony Ericsson headsets.



For Bluetooth to proliferate beyond geek cliques, analysts said manufacturers will have to keep its corporate interests in check.



"It's not about the PC, phone, or car industries," McCamon said. "It's about all of them working together."



© Reuters

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