Bluetooth was touted as a watershed for wireless communications when it was first announced in May 1998. Its backers promised to 'revolutionise the personal connectivity market by providing freedom from wired connections'. However, delays in bringing products to market and problems with the standard itself mean that it is in danger of being overtaken by rival technologies.
Bluetooth is a specification for compact, low-cost radio links between mobile computers, mobile phones and other portable devices. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) comprises more than 2,000 vendors. About 162 approved products are listed on the Bluetooth SIG Web site, but only 37 are actually available.
When the first release of the specification arrived in July 1999, research firm Dataquest forecast that '79 percent of digital handsets and more than 200 million PCs will incorporate Bluetooth technology by 2002'. Today this prediction seems rashly optimistic  especially now that Microsoft has said its forthcoming Windows XP operating system will not include Bluetooth support. The reason given for this is that Microsoft wants XP to be as stable and reliable as possible, and it does not regard Bluetooth as being in a finished state. Surprisingly, Microsoft is a full member of the Bluetooth SIG.
One of the other potential applications for Bluetooth is wireless LAN access. There are actually products available here, from Madge Networks subsidiary Red-M. But SIG member Intel is backing an alternative wireless LAN standard, IEEE 802.11b, which boasts substantially greater range than Bluetooth. Many 802.11b products are already available and offer much greater bandwidth than Bluetooth.
However, the growing corporate use of PDAs is one area where Bluetooth could still prove useful. Most PDA devices are too small for the current crop of wireless LAN cards, yet these are the kind of systems that would benefit most from cable-free access to the network. Bluetooth could carve itself a niche here, but the SIG vendors will have to move quickly before 802.11b beats them to it.
you guys are good. it's a shock to me about this b-tooth woozy-fussy prediction. i recently acquired which i thought a good investment on cellphone, ericsson t-39m. i have not activated the phone, just getting ready, yet looks to me, this is going to be outdated even before i use it.
right now, i got dissapointed to know microsoft is not going to work with b-tooth. my next step is to acquire a good sony laptop to sync with my cell/ph., besides my powerfull desktop. i need input. where are we headed? also, first time i heared about 802.11 and the rest. i know, i have to stay alert. thanks/p7