Bluetooth gets place in the car, not just the ear

Combining GPS and Bluetooth
With the continuing popularity of GPS devices, GPS chipmakers such as Texas Instruments, Broadcom and Britain’s CSR, have started adding Bluetooth, as well as FM radio transistors in some cases, to the GPS chips they make.

Some of the newest portable GPS units also have Bluetooth in them to allow hands-free calls. Among them: Garmin’s nuvi 760 ($500), TomTom’s GO 730 ($449.95) and Navigon’s 7200T ($449), due out in October.

GPS chip manufacturers are “starting to integrate Bluetooth and GPS onto the same package, and even onto the same silicon,” mainly because of the cost savings, said McKuen of ABI Research.

“Cellular platforms are very small, and one of the key driving factors of whether or not a technology is used is how much space it takes up,” he said. “If you integrate more functions on the same chip or platform, you’re probably saving the original equipment manufacturer some real estate, and within a device, and that’s a huge plus to them.”

In the pipeline
Bluetooth transmits data at a rate of between 1 and 3 megabits per second, equivalent to Internet broadband speed, and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group is developing an even higher-speed version of Bluetooth.

Funkwerk Americas The EGO Cup ($100 retail) by Funkwerk Americas is a Bluetooth speaker for the car that fits in a cup holder.

A faster transmission rate, code named “Seattle,” will make it easier to “bring in video on your mobile phone and stream it to your rear-seat entertainment units,” said Foley of the Bluetooth SIG.

“So, maybe you taped a couple of TV shows the night before, and your kids want to watch them the next day. You can transfer the shows to your phone, then stream them in the car for viewing.”

Foley said the Bluetooth SIG expects to finish work on that specification next year.

Also being worked on is a lower-power version of Bluetooth, due out within the next year or two, that could be used in auto sensors to check tire pressure, engine or oil pressure, he said.

“There’s more integration into the data buses within the car for sensor-type devices that can be wirelessly transmitted into the car for display on the dash and for diagnostics at the shop,” said Foley.

“It may not be real commonly known, but just the wiring in cars these days adds significant amount of weight. So, there’s more interest in being able to use wireless connections to reduce the weight and help with gas efficiency. And Bluetooth is a solution that’s very attractive.”

A Bluetooth tire sensor, for example, would have the same lifetime as the tire itself, so that it is “basically disposable with the tire,” he said.

Berardi, of IMS Research, said such Bluetooth uses could start showing up in cars by 2013.

Despite Bluetooth’s funny-sounding name, more people are learning what it does and what it can means for cars, Foley said.

A year or so ago, he said, only a few people would come up to him and talk to him about using Bluetooth in their vehicles.

“Now, pretty much anyone I meet, when they I hear I work with Bluetooth, brings it up, how it works in their cars, and how they like it. I think in the last year, awareness of hands-free in the car, Bluetooth in the car in general, has really skyrocketed.”

MORE FROM AUTO TECH

Auto Tech Section Front

High-speed chase ends when OnStar halts stolen SUV $2 million Bugatti Veyron is tech-heavy GPS for autos starting to get ‘smarter’ The office on wheels 6 high-tech boosts for the auto industry Phones could be the keys to your car 8 races and race cars that rev auto innovation iPhone voice navigation gets road-ready Mainstream Ford Taurus goes high-tech Hybrid vehicles’ silence seen as posing peril Auto Tech Section Front   Add Auto Tech headlines to your news reader: