Bluetooth will set you free

By the end of the year, all those cables on your desk could start to disappear, thanks to a revolutionary new technology

Look around your desk and count the number of cables connecting your computer, modem, printer, scanner, telephone and whatever else you may possess.

Now imagine taking all the cables away and having the devices communicate without wires. This is one of the things that may happen in the next couple of years, thanks to a new technology called Bluetooth.

Bluetooth provides short range (up to 100 meters) wireless communication between a whole range of devices. Conceived less than two years ago by the Swedish communications company Ericsson, it has swiftly become an international standard with the backing of nearly 2,000 major corporations around the world.

The technology's promise of getting rid of cables is exciting enough, but many companies are already looking beyond that and considering how Bluetooth could help create a whole new range of applications and ways of working.

Industry analysts are convinced that Bluetooth will have a major role to play in extending the convenience of mobile communications, and generally streamlining a lot of ordinary everyday activities. The first real Bluetooth-enabled products have just started coming onto the market. Research indicates that early Bluetooth devices, will probably include such things as a cordless headset that will allow you to talk on the slimline phone that you keep in your pocket or briefcase. Add a laptop computer, which could link up, without cables, to the Internet via that same slimline phone in the pocket.

Imagine, then, that while away from the office you use a PDA to download a file from the Internet. You want to print off the file, so you move within range of a Bluetooth-enabled printer (possibly part of some new print services shop) and you get your printout.

Your PDA, or some even smaller Bluetooth device, could also act as a personal identifier for you. It is envisaged that this will be used in all sorts of simple applications - as a security pass for getting into your office, entering the car-park at the airport (where the gate identifies you as a Frequent Flyer) and checking in and out of a hotel quickly and securely.

Other people have let their imaginations run wild and have come up with ideas such as the refrigerator that communicates with your Bluetooth-enabled computer, informing it that food supply is low, and telling it to inform the retailer over the internet.

That may happen in time, as the price of a Bluetooth communicating chip comes down to around $25 by the end of this year, and by 2004, down to possibly $5 if there is real volume. The merchant bank Merrill Lynch has already forecast that by 2005, there will be 5.4 billion Bluetooth devices in existence, of which many will be in the home, in TV remote controls and hi-fi systems - five times the number of mobile phones or Internet connections.

Bluetooth at a Glance

What

Bluetooth is a radio-based wireless technology, operating in the license-free 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical band at 1 Mbps, enabling appliances such as PCs, printers, mobile computers, mobile phones plus other portable and handheld devices to exchange data over short distances, as well as providing connectivity to the internet.

When

The market will start gathering momentum from 2001 onwards, which will be sustained by plummeting silicon prices and soaring demand for short-range radio connectivity.

How Big

Frost & Sullivan believes that the anticipated ubiquity of Wireless LAN and Bluetooth-embedded systems will stimulate a giant leap in overall revenues from $92.3 million in 1999 to $53.12 billion in 2006. That's a 575-fold increase. Merrill Lynch predicts that by 2005, there will be 5.4 billion Bluetooth devices in existence - five times the number of mobile phones or Internet connections.

Why Bluetooth

The Danish Viking and King, Harald Blåtand (Bluetooth in English), was so-called because he loved eating blueberries, which turned his teeth blue. He was chosen because he united and controlled Denmark and Norway in the 10th century - just as the technology links devices. For more information on Bluetooth go to: www.palowireless.com