Heavyweights back wireless communications

A consortium headed by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba is trying to revolutionise the way mobile phones, PCs and other devices talk to each other. The companies have unveiled a technology - called Bluetooth - which will allow high-speed voice and data transmission over short-range radio waves. Devices based on Bluetooth will be available by the second half of 1999, the group said.

Johan Siberg, president of Ericsson Mobile Communications, said: "Bluetooth will be developed as an open specification and licensed, royalty free, to allow the quick proliferation of these kinds of mobile devices."

The consortium claims Bluetooth will mean fewer connection cables and will allow automatic synchronisation between devices. It is not dependent on line-of-sight communication - as is the case with infrared - although it is limited to a 10 metre range. The companies maintain this is a consequence of making the Bluetooth chipset just 0.5sq in, and power efficient, operating at 2.7v. Bluetooth will use a 2.4GHz radio frequency, an unlicensed band which is already used by wireless LANs and microwave ovens - although Siberg denied there will be significant interference problems.

John Davidson, a principal consultant at Ovum, said: "This is potentially a big deal. It's good to see these companies working together on this, and allowing devices to talk to each other in this way is certainly a major step forward." However, analysts have also pointed out that quality of service and the price of Bluetooth-enabled devices will be central to the take up of the technology.

Other companies which have joined the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) include 3Com, Compaq, Lucent, Motorola and Qualcomm.