A World Hungry For Wireless

June 13, 2007
As Bluetooth wireless technology heads for its "third generation," it is a sign of the near- insatiable global appetite for wireless services and communications. In densely populated areas, the cellular telephone has become the lifeline for many, the ...

As Bluetooth wireless technology heads for its "third generation," it is a sign of the near- insatiable global appetite for wireless services and communications. In densely populated areas, the cellular telephone has become the lifeline for many, the main means of contacting another party or of achieving reliable communications with a customer or business associate. As cellular telephones head for their "fourth generation," carriers prepare to embrace additional wireless technologies, such as WiMAX, in order to provide such advanced services and high-speed mobile Internet access and streaming video functionality.

Bluetooth has long appeared as one of those wireless technologies "looking for a home." It has always been designed as a short-range wireless technology, but never found its niche in merchandising the way that radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology did. Yet, Bluetooth is still with us, and becoming a more integral part of automotive electronics according to a new report from IMS Research. Bluetooth has survived severe pricing pressures early in its history to emerge as one of the more significant (and versatile) short-range wireless technologies.

If there is any one reason for this, it is the modern craving for convenience as a function of technology. The Bluetooth cellular-phone headset, for example is both a convenience and a legal requirement in many areas for automotive driving and cellular-phone use. Bluetooth was also widely adopted in laptop computers and peripheral devices as a convenience. In general, wireless technology is a convenience, a way to eliminate wires and simplify connections. For that reason, even the most "questionable" of wireless technologies will find an application, somewhere.

By Jack Browne, MWRF Technical Director

About the Author

Jack Browne | Technical Contributor

Jack Browne, Technical Contributor, has worked in technical publishing for over 30 years. He managed the content and production of three technical journals while at the American Institute of Physics, including Medical Physics and the Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology. He has been a Publisher and Editor for Penton Media, started the firm’s Wireless Symposium & Exhibition trade show in 1993, and currently serves as Technical Contributor for that company's Microwaves & RF magazine. Browne, who holds a BS in Mathematics from City College of New York and BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Fordham University, is a member of the IEEE.

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