Andrew Seybold Hails Bluetooth Technology as Universal Solution to Mobile Computing Connectivity Problem.

BOULDER CREEK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 1998--Problems of connectivity and compatibility have long impeded the growth and development of the mobile computing industry, but the new radio technology code-named Bluetooth now under development as a collaborative effort of Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, IBM, Toshiba, Motorola and Palm (3Com), may well be the key that unlocks widespread interest on the part of product developers and users, writes Editor-in-Chief Andrew M. Seybold in an extensive analytical article in the current issue of Andrew Seybold's Outlook.

"Wireless voice communications is easy to procure and use - there are millions of wireless phones in use worldwide," he writes. "Wireless data communications is still difficult to implement and today's users number only in the thousands. For these reasons, communications and computing companies have both slowed in their efforts to merge the two technologies."

The Bluetooth communications device that may change the scenario is a small, low-powered radio-in-a-chip that will "talk" to other Bluetooth-enabled products, such as desktop computers, portable computers, cellular phones, printers, and fax machines on a one-to-one or one-to-many basis, in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz spectrum. Target date for delivery of the modules is mid-1999, with initial pricing at about $15-$20 per module lowering to as little as $5.00.

"The compelling reasons for incorporating Bluetooth are to wirelessly connect mobile computers to cellular phones and to establish small workgroups quickly and easily," Seybold says. "As the number of Bluetooth-equipped devices grows, so will their uses. On the communications side, cellular phones, two-way pagers, wireless data-only terminals and most other two-way wireless-capable devices will be Bluetooth-equipped. (It) will provide the 'glue' for the merger of wireless and computers."

In other articles, Seybold discusses the Nettech Systems Smart IP solution to the inherent "chattiness" problem of IP over wireless; Nokia's solution to the "bulkiness" problem of the Nokia 9000 Communicator - the thinner and lighter Nokia il Communicator; the compact under which BellSouth Wireless Data will assist Microsoft in wirelessly enabling future Windows CE OS-based applications; and the questions raised by the Personal Communications Industry Association's new survey of Third Generation spectrum needs.

Contributing Editor Barney Dewey explores users' desires for a single wireless handset and alternatives that are currently available. One possibility, he notes, is the Modular Multifunction Information Transfer System Forum (MMITS) proposal for a software-defined radio as a practical solution to many of today's communications challenges. Contributing Editor Victor Wortman examines the decision of hospital/healthcare co-op VHA to adopt BellSouth Interactive Paging Service for its IS help desk operations - and why they wouldn't go back.

Andrew Seybold's Outlook is a monthly perspective of issues affecting the mobile computer and communications industries. For a free issue, subscription information or information about allied activities, contact Ruth Johnson at Andrew Seybold's Outlook, P.O. Box 2460, Boulder Creek CA 95006-2460; tel [phone]; fax [phone]; e-mail, [e-mail]; or visit the Web site: www.outlook.com.

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