Ericsson Business Innovation has announced the "blip," a small self-contained device that communicates wirelessly with mobile phones, PDAs, and other kinds of mobile devices that are equipped with Bluetooth short-range wireless technology. Ericsson's plan is for blips to start "popping up everywhere," as a convenient means to deliver a wide variety of services to Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices.
Peter Lundin, director of the blip development project, envisions the gadget adding a whole new dimension to mobile communications. "By gearing communications to particular times and situations, we have created a platform for a range of new services," says Lundin. "Within a few years, 'blipping' while on the move will be as common as home surfing is today."
What's a blip?
blip stands for "Bluetooth Local Infotainment Point." The device is a tiny networked computer system with a built-in Bluetooth two-way radio. That allows it to provide information transfer to and from Bluetooth-enabled wireless devices (phones, PDAs, etc.) that come within its communications range. The blip thus establishes a localised wireless LAN, which users can freely access via their Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices.
Like the transmission/reception "cells" of the cellular phone network, the communication range of each blip is limited. In the case of the blip, though, that range is within a radius of just thirty feet. Fortunately, a future implementation of the Bluetooth standard will increase that distance by a factor of ten within several years.
One thing that distinguishes the blip from alternative wireless communication solutions is its highly constrained range. Ericsson promotes this as an advantage rather than a detriment, however, emphasising that it enables the blip to deliver location- and situation-specific services. Consequently, says Ericsson, the blip will serve as a welcomed "filter" in the otherwise "cluttered world" of wireless media and information.
Another noteworthy limitation of the first generation blip (the Model C11) is that it can be accessed by only one mobile device at a time. That, too, will change, with access by up to seven simultaneous devices to be supported by a future model (the C1).
