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Music
to Bluetooth’s ears?
It’s the wireless version of Napster. Imagine being able
to swap music files with a friend by using MP3 players embedded
with Bluetooth chips — a wireless radio link that allows
devices within 30 feet of each other to interact. No company
present at last week’s Bluetooth Developers Conference
in San Jose announced it would release MP3 players with embedded
Bluetooth wireless technology. But in what may be another
thorn in the side of the recording industry, a company from
Ireland demonstrated a precursor to what may become the next
rage in wireless technology.
Parthus Technologies, which develops and licenses software
to power mobile devices, led numerous journalists to a suite
displaying its MP3 and Bluetooth platforms. The demonstration
consisted of two laptops that streamed MP3 files through a
24-bit digital signal processing circuit - or a wireless communications
filter - into a box with a couple speakers that represented
MP3 players. “One of the scenarios we’re looking
at is kids with MP3 players with Bluetooth can swap tracks
with each other,” said Bob Tait, senior product marketing
manager for the Bluetooth wireless business unit of Parthus
Technologies. “Yeah, the music industry isn’t going
to like that.” Indeed, cords won’t be in the way
of the Recording Industry Association of America fighting
wireless file swapping. “The recording industry has been
working on many different delivery systems so consumers can
enjoy music when they want it and how they want it,”
said Amy Weiss, RIAA senior vice president for communications.
“But whether music is on-line or off-line, wireless or
wired, it is important that intellectual property and copyright
is protected.” Wired News was unable to reach Bertelsmann
for comment. Bertelsmann, after months of legal tangling with
Napster, is now working with the online music file exchanger.
Still, many exhibitors milling about in the San Jose Convention
Center expect to see, toward the end of 2001, “multi-point
access” Bluetooth devices such as the MP3 player, which
can send data to up to seven other devices.
Many multi-point access products are still undergoing testing
for “master-slave switching” –- to make sure
that certain devices are the ones sending information to the
other intended devices.
Initially, single point products, such as Bluetooth-enabled
wireless headsets and mobile phones, will be offered to consumers.
“There’s more complexity” in single point to
multi-point access, said Frank Hennekens, a manager of key
accounts and licensing for Ericsson’s Bluetooth division.
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