Bluetooth backers take a reality check

SAN JOSE - There was evidence at the Bluetooth Developers Conference last week that inflated expectations have been replaced by realism.

Instead of talk about Bluetooth taking over the world, discussion focused on interoperability testing and simplified software, integrated chipsets, and technologies that will let Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11 radios work together on the same device.

Announcements and demonstrations covered a range of issues (click for more news from the show ). They included:

Plans by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group to make it easier for users to set up short-range wireless connections.

• Ready-to-use modules dubbed Simply Blue from National Semiconductor designed to simplify the incorporation of Bluetooth radios into different classes of devices.

• A second-generation voice headset from Motorola; smaller, lighter and with better battery life than its predecessor. It also has a lower list price, $150, compared with $200 for the earlier model.

Also, in one of the first enterprise-network-level Bluetooth case studies, staff from United Parcel Service detailed for conference attendees their beta testing of a Bluetooth-802.11b device used by workers to scan packages at UPS sorting hubs.

"From what we've seen, in our situation it works very well," said Guy Hamblen, program manager for UPS's global network systems.

The scanner, which slips over two fingers, uses Bluetooth to transfer scanned data to the portable computer worn on the worker's belt. Then an 802.11b wireless LAN adapter carries the data to an access point, where it jumps to the UPS wired network.

"We have very high maintenance and support costs associated with the wired version of this device," Hamblen said. "We expect significant cost savings with this new system."

But it won't happen soon. UPS plans another year of testing around the world.

"We've learned to test extensively in many geographic areas, in lots of different conditions, such as high humidity, cold and so on," Hamblen said.

Enterprise pragmatism seemed to underlie much of the conference's agenda. Vendors and members of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group talked about returning to the basics of Bluetooth's original intent: a radio link to replace the cables that interconnect cell phones, headsets, PDAs, notebook PCs and other devices.

Bluetooth was conceived in the mid-1990s as a way to connect devices without using cables. Bluetooth specifies a maximum data rate of 768K bit/sec over a distance of 30 feet.

"At the peak of the hype, some people positioned Bluetooth as more of a network," said Malcolm Humphrey, product line director for cellular solutions at National Semiconductor. "It doesn't have a place as a full-blown network. This led to disillusionment."

The disillusionment was fueled by early Bluetooth products that didn't work with each other.

"There was a high degree, an unacceptable degree, of interoperability problems," Humphrey said.

This had a bracing effect on the industry. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group refocused on Version 1.1 of the specification, correcting many of the problems.