Efforts to develop wireless Bluetooth technology have gained momentum as four major vendors said they would help promote the emerging standard.
3Com, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft and Motorola said they will join the five founders of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group - Ericsson, IBM Intel, Nokia and Toshiba - to form a nine-member Bluetooth Promoter Group.
The group will focus on improving the Bluetooth specification and conducting interoperability tests, the companies said in a statement. The nine companies will combine their skills to help promote Bluetooth as Bluetooth-enabled products come to market, the companies said.
Bluetooth promises to connect up to eight devices, including PCs, mobile phones, handhelds and peripherals, using low-frequency radio waves to transmit voice and data. Having more vendors support the Bluetooth specification will also give users greater choices in what devices they can link together.
Bluetooth products will not be ready anytime soon, however. More than 1200 vendors who want their devices to qualify for the Bluetooth seal have to undergo interoperability tests at a Bluetooth developers conference, to be held December 7 to 9 in Los Angeles. Until then, no market-ready products can be put on the market.