A touch of gray in Bluetooth's silver lining

IDG News Service - After years of hype that promised seamless, short-range wireless connectivity among handheld devices, Bluetooth is showing signs of having overcome some of the early problems associated with the technology. But are growing adoption and gradual technical improvements enough to save Bluetooth from being overcome by advances in wireless technology?
At first glance, technical improvements and shipment numbers look promising for Bluetooth's future. Vendors are shipping 1 million Bluetooth-enabled devices, mostly cell phones, every week, according to Mike McCamon, executive director of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. The majority of those Bluetooth-enabled products -- 65% -- are being sold in Europe, with 25% shipping to Asia and 10% to the Americas, he said.
"Bluetooth is getting quite good adoption currently in cell phones and even in laptops," said Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Intel Corp.
And as adoption spreads, the technology continues to be improved, although some usage problems remain unresolved. On Nov. 5, the Bluetooth SIG announced the adoption of Bluetooth Specification Version 1.2, which adds several new features, including faster connections between devices and adaptive frequency hopping, which is designed to reduce interference with other wireless devices. Devices based on the latest Bluetooth specification are expected to begin appearing on the market over the next few months, it said.
"In many regards, [Bluetooth has] been complex and not been well tested, so there have been a number of usage model issues around it, but those seem to be resolved," Gelsinger said.
IBM and Apple Computer Inc. are among the companies that have begun selling notebook computers that offer Bluetooth connectivity, and the technology has also begun finding its way into other hardware devices.

Taiwan's LiteOn Technology Corp. has developed a product called the Personal Mobile Gateway, or PMG100, that's designed to function as a single cellular gateway for a variety of portable Bluetooth-enabled devices, including a handheld messaging terminal and a phone.
Incorporating support for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks, the PMG100 looks to be slightly larger than a deck of cards and includes a microrouter and microserver capabilities, according to information posted on the company's Web site. Further details of the device weren't available because it is still under development, according to Jessica Chou, a spokeswoman for LiteOn in Taipei.
Logitech Inc., a major vendor of cordless devices that use older 27-MHz radio frequency technology, has introduced several Bluetooth devices since September. Bluetooth, like 802.11b or Wi-Fi technology, uses frequencies in the 2.4-GHz spectrum. It