Ramping up for Bluetooth’s second decade

Faster downloads of music, video
Bluetooth transmits data at a rate of between 1 and 3 megabits per second, said O’Rourke of In-Stat. It’s a speed that’s equivalent to many Internet broadband connections.

“There’s a high-speed version of Bluetooth being worked on that will move that rate into the hundreds of megabits-per-second range,” he said.

“If you look at where cell phones may be headed, there’s a need to get more and more data on and off them. That need for greater data will tax standard Bluetooth at current rates.

“But if you can allow Bluetooth to push more data on and off the phone, and if your phone is also an MP3 player, you could wirelessly download a song in seconds, rather than in minutes.”

“When we enable high-speed Bluetooth, the entire music player experience will be able to be done wirelessly, from the logging on of the device to the playback,” said Foley.

The timeline for high-speed Bluetooth is the same as for the lower-power version of it, with testing being done this year, finalization of the specifications expected early next year, and product releases in 2009 as well, Foley said.

Bluetooth-equipped cars
Bluetooth’s biggest use in the car has been enabling drivers to talk hands-free.

That has become more important as states pass laws that ban driving while talking on a handheld cell phone. So far, those states are New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Utah, as well as the District of Columbia.

Both California and the state of Washington have approved a similar ban, which takes effect July 1.

While a growing number of new cars are coming equipped with Bluetooth for hands-free talking, several third-party products, from hands-free kits to GPS devices, are also available.

“The Bluetooth aftermarket in 2007 was around 25 million units, representing a 54 percent increase from 2006,” said Fiona Thomson, senior market analyst for IMS, which does research for the electronics industry.

Newer devices are incorporating other uses. Motorola’s MotoRokr T505 Bluetooth In-Car Speakerphone and Digital FM Transmitter ($139.99) attaches to a car’s sun visor and wirelessly transmits music and phone calls from a Bluetooth phone or MP3 player through a car’s stereo.

If music is playing and a call comes in, the music automatically pauses so the call can be received. Other companies making similar products include Jabra, Nokia and Parrot.

The hands-free voice and music playing option is the basic foundation of Sync, a joint venture between Microsoft and Ford, which is built into some 2008 Ford and Lincoln-Mercury models. (Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
Sync costs $395 as a stand-alone option.

In the future, higher-speed Bluetooth could be used to stream video and audio from a mobile player to rear-seat entertainment screens, said Foley of the Bluetooth SIG.

And, “with the ultra low-power version of Bluetooth, there are discussions about using Bluetooth to connect some of the sensors in the car to query the status of other sensors in the auto, such as the air pressure of tires.

“We want to continue to expand and adopt the technology so that any devices people want to have communicate within their personal area network, that Bluetooth is the best technology to do that,” he said.

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