New Bluetooth module.

There have been a lot of bumps in the road to adoption of the Bluetooth short-range wireless protocol for automotive applications, but the number of Bluetooth-enabled devices for continues to grow, albeit at a less than breakneck pace. The latest addition is the WISMO Quik Q2501 module from Wavecom SA (Issy-les-Moulineaux, France; www.wavecom.com). In addition to utilizing Ericsson's Bluetooth software stack and profiles, the module uses a SIM Access Profile (SAP) that creates a link between a mobile phone's SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card and an external GSM/GPRS device like a built-in car phone. (Wavecom says that the WISMO Quik Q2501 is the only product that combines dual band GSM/GPRS with 16 channels of GPS in a single unit.) This allows any mobile phone located in a vehicle to call out via the car phone and be operated hands-free. The downside to this setup is that it still involves two phones, so the only real cost savings is not having to install a mobile phone cradle. The upside is that users can access all of the contact numbers loaded onto their mobile phone's SIM card without having to switch the tiny memory chips from the mobile unit to the car phone and back again.--KEW