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Next-Generation Applications Drive Bluetooth Adoption
URL(s): frost.com
The road of progress has been a rocky one for Bluetooth, with industry hype exceeding reality and inflating expectations during the early years of the technology's development, culminating in a media backlash in 2001 as Bluetooth failed to meet its promises. Now the standard appears to have settled with the technology moving from vision to commercial reality, blossoming into a number of active application markets.
Major milestones achieved in 2001 include the ratification of the Bluetooth 1.1 specification, ending years of revisions and non-interoperable intermediate specifications. Bluetooth products were very slow to emerge from the labs, but last year saw a flock of Bluetooth-enabled products finally hit the shelves.
The first high-profile public trials, conducted by companies such as the UK's Netario and Japanese trading company Marubeni, also began in 2001.
"Technological inroads into client devices, such as the convergence of communications and computing equipment, the creation of wireless data services and models, and the availability of complementary technologies, are redefining the boundaries of Bluetooth's contribution to wireless technology," reports Michael Wall, Wireless Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
Four prominent elements of the Bluetooth value chain, namely platform and infrastructure providers, operating system developers, software application developers and service providers, are opening up the opportunities associated with the technology, in order to develop new applications and usage models.
Although these changes have been partly responsible for the perceived delays to the technology, they also mean that Bluetooth has grown in eminence. Even in the unlikely event of Bluetooth failing to achieve the mass market penetration predicted, it still has many roles to play in niche applications.
Platforms and infrastructure represent the physical hardware and software that enable Bluetooth networking within the local and personal areas. This area is growing with the move of Bluetooth away from simple cable replacement into more formalised networking applications. Although Bluetooth will never be an effective replacement or serious competitor to cellular technologies or to wireless local area networking (LAN) infrastructure, it can doubtlessly act as a substitute in certain environments.
Service providers' endeavours are geared towards the development of wireless services that can be operated across Bluetooth networks, providing client device access to applications such as email, internet, personal information management (PIM), as well as formalised file sharing and synchronisation to remote devices.
Away from these generic applications, service providers are examining the opportunity to provide niche or proprietary services to enterprise clients or clients operating in vertical markets with particular demands.
Service providers are seeking to marry the client device functions of Bluetooth with the platforms and infrastructure being developed to provide services beyond the simple peer-to-peer cable replacement offered by client device only Bluetooth connections.
"Operating systems (OS) developers are playing a crucial role in the adoption of Bluetooth into client devices," Mr Wall continues.
"OS support for Bluetooth facilitates the integration of Bluetooth by client device vendors, as well as enabling the development activities of the application software suppliers. Support within the OS is key to guaranteeing interoperability between different devices. At present strong progress is being made by many of the mobile client device OS vendors, whilst desktop OS are less responsive to the technology."
Meanwhile, middleware developers are filling the gaps that exist between the OS and Bluetooth software applications and subsystems. In the short-term, they provide a fix, allowing the OS vendors time to develop integrated support. In the longer term, the middleware developers will provide support for proprietary or niche software applications targeted at specific industry verticals.
Software application developers are responsible for taking the basic functions provided by Bluetooth and expanding them into more advanced, client focused applications. Applications being developed range from standard programmes to share files stored on a network or to access the Internet, to more specific bespoke applications developed for niche markets. It is the software applications that will define, drive and support client usage models for Bluetooth.
The Bluetooth Platforms & Software Analysis is the most recent study produced by the Frost & Sullivan Bluetooth Market Service, which seeks to continuously monitor, analyse and assess the ongoing market changes and events that are shaping and defining the Bluetooth industry. The Bluetooth Market Service provides regular in-depth market intelligence to leading Bluetooth developers.
Report Code: 6591, Publication Date: January 2002, Price: Euros 4,500
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