The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) published a road map for the technology that spans through 2006 that lets peripherals, cell phones and other devices communicate wirelessly over short distances. Bluetooth has been widely adopted in Europe thanks to cell phone integration, however, this has yet to be the case for the majority of the devices in Canada or the USA. The Bluetooth SIG is hoping that their new road map will further adoption of their technology in cell phones distributed in North America as they believe such devices will be the train bluetooth will ride into the American market. The highlights of the road map are:
- For 2004, the SIG points to today's Bluetooth Version 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), which promises to increase data rates to 3 megabits per second (mbps) from 1mbps and decrease power consumption
- Next year, the group will continue to tackle security and privacy, the number of devices that can communicate at the same time, and power consumption--a key problem for battery-powered mobile devices
- In 2006, the specification is scheduled to support multicasting, or the ability to send a single message to several devices and to increase Bluetooth's range to about 100 metres.
Chip makers CSR, Broadcom and RF Micro have adopted version 2.0 + EDR and the SIG expects products with these chips to hit the market in about 8-9 months from now.
What do you think - does bluetooth have a strong future in North America?