Bluetooth boosted by chip price cuts

NEWS Cambridge Silicon Radio claims it will have Bluetooth chips for wireless networks on sale for less than $5 by 2003. The company's current price range is $8 to $10 for the chips, which connect devices such as PCs to printers, without the need for cables, through radio frequencies. Analysts believe this drop in price will see Bluetooth technology become more widely adopted. However, it competes against another short distance wireless standard, Wi-Fi 802.11b, which is more popular in the US having been adopted by companies such as Microsoft. Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) said it is also working on a single chip which will combine the two standards. Because both technologies share the 2.4Ghz spectrum, concerns were voiced about interference but CSR said testing shows the two can work simultaneously.