Preliminary research from analyst firm Gartner indicates that around a million chips for Bluetooth wireless connectivity have shipped to hardware manufacturers so far this year. The figures show the shortage of Bluetooth products will ease, and more IT managers will soon be able to enjoy the benefits of the wireless communication technology.
Most Bluetooth products currently available are focused on the formation of personal area networks (PANs), allowing users to interconnect devices such as PCs, handhelds, keyboards, mice, printers and headsets, over ranges up to 10 metres.
But Gartner analyst Nigel Deighton believes the technology will eventually be an important component in the emergence of what Gartner is calling the 'Supranet'. The Supranet is a public wireless networking environment that would allow users to connect to each other, their corporate networks and the Internet, from any location.
"Bluetooth has the greatest ease of use, [compared with] other wireless LAN technology. It might emerge eventually into the public access space, although it will initially be disguised as something different," he said.
However, the gradual evolution of Bluetooth from personal to wide area network (WAN) technology will depend on its ability to communicate with a range of other wireless technologies, from 802.11 WLANs to GPRS and UMTS mobile data networks. Only at that point -- and when devices are able to support longer transmission distances up to 100 metres -- will Bluetooth become viable for wider use in public or corporate networks.
