Posted by
michael
on from the wi-fi-all-the-way dept.
rookie1 writes "According to this article and this, Ericsson has shut down its Bluetooth division. Ericsson has not made any formal announcement. Considering SonyEricsson is a major supporter of Bluetooth technology, will this have a huge impact on its adoption?"
Bluetooth is not dying (ignore Netcraft)
by
plover
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Well, according to both of the articles it's the research team that created Bluetooth, and the technologies around it. They are not the group that is responsible for incorporating Bluetooth into the other products.
It could be as simple as "the standard has been set, the goals have been accomplished, move on to new things." Since Ericsson is no longer the sole creative force behind Bluetooth, it makes financial sense to not keep 125 people employed to argue one seat on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.
It's too bad for Bluetooth in that I think Ericsson had some brilliant visionaries doing this work, and that those people are no longer focused on Bluetooth. However, they're being incorporated into other units which can only help them overall.
It's not good news, it's not bad news. It's just news. The timing is interesting as I see Bluetooth now on the cusp of adoption by every cell phone maker for their mid- and possibly even low-end phones.
( And Michael, wi-fi is not necessarily a good replacement for Bluetooth. The higher power requirements for wi-fi mean shorter battery life, which is death for cell phones. And Bluetooth incorporates discovery protocols which are all geared toward personal networking, not internet networking. I think wi-fi would be a really chatty way to accomplish those goals, again at the expense of battery life. )
-- John
Re:Bluetooth not "adopting"
by
mccalli
·
· Score: 5, Informative
When was the last time you used a Bluetooth-enabled device to do anything useful?
Well, admittedly typing this reply on a bluetooth keyboard might not count as useful, so I'll have to go for an hour ago when I used it transfer photos. Before that I'd have to stretch a whole two hours ago when I used the built-in bluetooth on this Powerbook to communicate with a bluetooth mobile in order to send an SMS. And before that, it would be about five hours ago when I synchronised my address books. Without taking the phone out of my pocket.
Enough yet? Or shall I cast my memory as far back as this morning to dig out some more usage?
Eericsson shifted the bleutooth work to a difrferent division folks..no stopping bluetooth at ericsson but a shifting of resources..
Micahel why did you avoid reading the 2nd paragraph?
-- Don't Tread on OpenSource
Re:Bluetooth not "adopting"
by
RapmasterT
·
· Score: 4, Informative
What adoption? When was the last time you used a Bluetooth-enabled device to do anything useful?
Last time? I'd guess about 5 minutes ago.
1. I use a bluetooth connection to my laptop to edit my cell phone contact list with a real keyboard.
2. I use a bluetooth headset to talk on my cell phone without a wire catching on everything.
3. I have a bluetooth GPS unit that I use map routing with my pocketpc.
4. I have a bluetooth router on my home network to provide LAN access to my pocketpc (WiFi drains the battery in about 1.5 hours, bluetooth in 5.5).
Too many people make the mistake of thinking that since THEY don't use a technology, nobody does. Bluetooth is not only gaining wide acceptance, but it's very useful as well. Short range, low power consumption is a killer combination for many many uses.
Re:Bluetooth not "adopting"
by
Enry
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Sheesh. Just as I get my Mac, Linux box, and Palm T3 talking bluetooth wirelessly to my GSM phone.
Bluetooth = 802.11 but low cost, low power, low bandwidth.
I can control what devices connect to my BT devices. I can control what services on each device I want to offer. I can write SMS (text messages) from my PDA and have the phone send them.
No nearby 802.11 hotspot? No problem, go data through the phone.
I can sync the contacts on my laptop with those on my phone with those on my PDA. No more having different contacts all over the place.
There's various BT apps for PalmOS that allow you to have a small whiteboard/chat over BT. Great for meetings.
All without a wire. Not one is needed for communicating.
BT is currently languishing because Windows doesn't really support it. Linux has okay support (still needs some help) but Macs and embedded devices are doing pretty good with it.
Re:Bluetooth going away?
by
Smitty825
·
· Score: 4, Informative
The CDMA providers/phone manufactures are just getting a clue about Bluetooth. In the US, Verizon should be selling a Bluetooth Motorola phone. Sprint has sold a Bluetooth Sony Ericsson phone (with lots of BT bugs), and Nokia has announced a CDMA flip-phone with bluetooth...
--
Doh!
Re:Few will miss it...
by
Maxon
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Oops, hit submit too early... To finish my thoughts..
Zigbee (802.15.4) was designed for long battery life time and simple design. It achieves this long battery life goal with keep the receivers off most of the time. Depending upon configuration and the accuracy of you're timers, you're receiver might only be on a few milliseconds every couple of minutes. Not good for low latency or high bandwidth, but works wonders for making batteries last a year or more.
Bluetooth is about speed and QoS. Eats much more power than Zigbee, and only supports 7 devices in a Piconet. Zigbee is designed to support thousands of devices in a network.
Bluetooth and Zigbee are complementary technologies, not competitive. Even the IEEE says so (Bluetooth is on top of 802.15.1).
To my knowledge, the word "promoter" means someone in the second line of development. Either someone funding, or advertising it.
For example, a promoter of art is usually some rich guy, not necessarily the poor chap, who actually paints the pictures.
-- "Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
Re:Might not be bad
by
shaka
·
· Score: 4, Informative
I'm a little fuzzy on the relationship between Ericsson and SonyEricsson.
Also, what's the relationship of Sony to SonyEricsson? I've had a lot of frustration with Sony and Bluetooth support in the USA.
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications was established in 2001 by telecommunications leader Ericsson and consumer electronics powerhouse Sony Corporation. The company is equally owned by Ericsson and Sony.
-- :wq!
Re:Bluetooth not "adopting"
by
mccalli
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Are the data transmissions are encrypted in any way?
Yes, they are. Not certain of the standard though, so I don't know how difficult it is to brute force.
How do you select which device you are exchanging data with?
Interface depends on device, but normally you browse for them - a list is presented, and each device is named. Of course, you have to rely on the user having set the name to something more useful than "Nokia 3650" so you can identify which Nokia 3650...
Can you limit which devices can and cannot communicate with each other to prevent the nosy neighbors from listening in?
Yes, you can specify that devices need to a passkey to pair with each other. The neighbours don't get the key.
Can you limit which devices can and cannot communicate with each other to prevent the nosy neighbors from listening in?
Yes - you put your device in non-discoverable mode (similar to not broadcasting the SSID of a wireless network)
How do you enter a secret access password into a headset?
Or, indeed, a mouse as I had to set up for this machine. The answer is that the passkey is fixed on such devices, but they're also tied in with a hardware id (analogous to a MAC address). Thus another, similar headset with the same passkey still wouldn't successfully pair with your device - different hardware id
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Ian
Re:Promoting?
by
watanuki
·
· Score: 3, Informative
"Promoter" is a membership level (the highest one, Ericsson did came up with the technology after all) of the Bluetooth SIG, and this seems to be the context of the quote.
Also notice that it says "chip" customers. The 2nd article mentioned Ericsson will still do software development.
Slashdot Mirror
It could be as simple as "the standard has been set, the goals have been accomplished, move on to new things." Since Ericsson is no longer the sole creative force behind Bluetooth, it makes financial sense to not keep 125 people employed to argue one seat on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.
It's too bad for Bluetooth in that I think Ericsson had some brilliant visionaries doing this work, and that those people are no longer focused on Bluetooth. However, they're being incorporated into other units which can only help them overall.
It's not good news, it's not bad news. It's just news. The timing is interesting as I see Bluetooth now on the cusp of adoption by every cell phone maker for their mid- and possibly even low-end phones.
( And Michael, wi-fi is not necessarily a good replacement for Bluetooth. The higher power requirements for wi-fi mean shorter battery life, which is death for cell phones. And Bluetooth incorporates discovery protocols which are all geared toward personal networking, not internet networking. I think wi-fi would be a really chatty way to accomplish those goals, again at the expense of battery life. )
John
Well, admittedly typing this reply on a bluetooth keyboard might not count as useful, so I'll have to go for an hour ago when I used it transfer photos. Before that I'd have to stretch a whole two hours ago when I used the built-in bluetooth on this Powerbook to communicate with a bluetooth mobile in order to send an SMS. And before that, it would be about five hours ago when I synchronised my address books. Without taking the phone out of my pocket.
Enough yet? Or shall I cast my memory as far back as this morning to dig out some more usage?
Cheers,
Ian
Please reread the article
Eericsson shifted the bleutooth work to a difrferent division folks..no stopping bluetooth at ericsson but a shifting of resources..
Micahel why did you avoid reading the 2nd paragraph?
Don't Tread on OpenSource
What adoption? When was the last time you used a Bluetooth-enabled device to do anything useful?
Last time? I'd guess about 5 minutes ago.
1. I use a bluetooth connection to my laptop to edit my cell phone contact list with a real keyboard.
2. I use a bluetooth headset to talk on my cell phone without a wire catching on everything.
3. I have a bluetooth GPS unit that I use map routing with my pocketpc.
4. I have a bluetooth router on my home network to provide LAN access to my pocketpc (WiFi drains the battery in about 1.5 hours, bluetooth in 5.5).
Too many people make the mistake of thinking that since THEY don't use a technology, nobody does. Bluetooth is not only gaining wide acceptance, but it's very useful as well. Short range, low power consumption is a killer combination for many many uses.
Sheesh. Just as I get my Mac, Linux box, and Palm T3 talking bluetooth wirelessly to my GSM phone.
Bluetooth = 802.11 but low cost, low power, low bandwidth.
I can control what devices connect to my BT devices. I can control what services on each device I want to offer. I can write SMS (text messages) from my PDA and have the phone send them.
No nearby 802.11 hotspot? No problem, go data through the phone.
I can sync the contacts on my laptop with those on my phone with those on my PDA. No more having different contacts all over the place.
There's various BT apps for PalmOS that allow you to have a small whiteboard/chat over BT. Great for meetings.
All without a wire. Not one is needed for communicating.
BT is currently languishing because Windows doesn't really support it. Linux has okay support (still needs some help) but Macs and embedded devices are doing pretty good with it.
The CDMA providers/phone manufactures are just getting a clue about Bluetooth. In the US, Verizon should be selling a Bluetooth Motorola phone. Sprint has sold a Bluetooth Sony Ericsson phone (with lots of BT bugs), and Nokia has announced a CDMA flip-phone with bluetooth...
Doh!
Oops, hit submit too early... To finish my thoughts..
Zigbee (802.15.4) was designed for long battery life time and simple design. It achieves this long battery life goal with keep the receivers off most of the time. Depending upon configuration and the accuracy of you're timers, you're receiver might only be on a few milliseconds every couple of minutes. Not good for low latency or high bandwidth, but works wonders for making batteries last a year or more.
Bluetooth is about speed and QoS. Eats much more power than Zigbee, and only supports 7 devices in a Piconet. Zigbee is designed to support thousands of devices in a network.
Bluetooth and Zigbee are complementary technologies, not competitive. Even the IEEE says so (Bluetooth is on top of 802.15.1).
(An early 802.15.4 adopter)
To my knowledge, the word "promoter" means someone in the second line of development. Either someone funding, or advertising it.
For example, a promoter of art is usually some rich guy, not necessarily the poor chap, who actually paints the pictures.
"Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications was established in 2001 by telecommunications leader Ericsson and consumer electronics powerhouse Sony Corporation. The company is equally owned by Ericsson and Sony.
:wq!
Yes, they are. Not certain of the standard though, so I don't know how difficult it is to brute force.
Interface depends on device, but normally you browse for them - a list is presented, and each device is named. Of course, you have to rely on the user having set the name to something more useful than "Nokia 3650" so you can identify which Nokia 3650...
Yes, you can specify that devices need to a passkey to pair with each other. The neighbours don't get the key.
Yes - you put your device in non-discoverable mode (similar to not broadcasting the SSID of a wireless network)
Or, indeed, a mouse as I had to set up for this machine. The answer is that the passkey is fixed on such devices, but they're also tied in with a hardware id (analogous to a MAC address). Thus another, similar headset with the same passkey still wouldn't successfully pair with your device - different hardware id
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Ian
"Promoter" is a membership level (the highest one, Ericsson did came up with the technology after all) of the Bluetooth SIG, and this seems to be the context of the quote. Also notice that it says "chip" customers. The 2nd article mentioned Ericsson will still do software development.