Bluetooth leaves IT bosses cold

NEWS Bluetooth has been slow to take off because most IT managers have never even heard of it - and the few that have are worried about the security implications. A global Bluetooth end-user survey by Frost and Sullivan has shown that 67 per cent of businesses globally have no plans to purchase bluetooth products. Only three out of 120 businesses surveyed have started evaluating the wireless connectivity standard, which is designed to connect computers, mobile phones, headsets and printers without cumbersome cables. Awareness of Bluetooth is higher in Europe than other regions though, as there has been more media hype around the technology, but still only 44 per cent of businesses in the region plan to actually buy it. Many respondents wrongly perceive Bluetooth as purely a wireless LAN technology. So businesses which already use wireless LANs on the 802.11 standard can't see why they should buy into the technology. Other respondents were also afraid that equipment such as Bluetooth wireless headsets would interfere with their existing wireless LANs. The biggest issue in all respondents' minds was security, as Frost and Sullivan's wireless programme manager Jan ten Sythoff explained. He said: "If you put a Bluetooth port on your network, they thought people outside the network can get into it, to knock over servers or steal information. In reality, it's not such an issue as it is perceived to be." Microsoft's decision in April not to support Bluetooth in the Windows XP operating system was not a major factor in delaying the growth of the technology, said ten Sythoff. "There was a big overhype about that. It was far too early to expect them to integrate it, but it will be on the next releases of the Pocket PC, Palm and Symbian operating systems. And computer manufacturers can easily incorporate it themselves," said ten Sythoff. He added that he does not expect to see Bluetooth take off before the end of the year. "This year will be a learning year, and next year we will really start to move," he said. The survey polled 120 IT network managers across Asia, Europe and the US.