I have been at Bluetooth Conference London last month.
Hey, this upcomming wireless-cable replacement will be great! It runs up to 10m (500kbit/s asynchronous) and has some interesting profiles to make each device compatible to other ones. I recognised 3com-pilot people as well as Logitech (mices & keyboards) and Senheiser (hedsets) was there and 700 others ;-) at the exhibition I found ARM as an important Bluetooth pusher!

First Version will have some profiles: PPP, Headset (mono, voice quality two way) are the most interesting to EMPEG. It is free to join the BT SIG to get development information. http://www.bluetooth.com

Why do I write this? Bluetooth will be public available in about 1 Year in Mobile Phones and in devices like 3com Palm. Little later, I expect Notebooks will have Bluetooth as standard. A chipset will cost @1H2000 about $25, a module (small 1x3cm) will go for a little more (today one PCMCIA card costs $5000, it is not a joke).

Volks at EMPEG, think about that for your next generation, or as an extension for your free connector inside. Oh, I also have a hint: Bluetooth and iRDA are at higher layers very similar (some profiles are 1by1) because they work together: in the mean time you can use this iRDA physical interface you still have built in.

...in future, you only have to bring a device with needed skills near your net (10meter) and you will have it (eg. GPS receiver, Keyboard, 3comPilot as User Interface, SmartCards for user-profiles, cameras for image recording)... and all with one "interface" Bluetooth "NOT-PLUG AND PLAY"




Ruedi.Bruegger@Swisslan.ch