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Illustrations by Arthur Mount |
SIGnature magazine | Q1 2010
Connect | Less is Much More
In the News | Find the latest news from the Bluetooth SIG
Perspectives | Emerging Markets
Ask the SIG | Qualifying Ground
Special Report: Potential Energy...
Power Play | Bluetooth low energy technology steps to the forefront
Vital Stats | Sensors will change the way you monitor your health and fitness
Watch for it | Strapping on a watch gives you a whole new way to keep track of life.
Remote Possibilities | Bluetooth enabled devices take on new jobs around the house.
Making Contact | With the Proximity Profile, devices can communicate at close range.
A New Standard | How Bluetooth low energy technology stacks up against the competition.
Spec Check | Profiles in Technology
Check out | Four Ways to go Wireless
Wacky Apps | Shoes "Get Smart"
Bluetooth Technology @ Your Service | A Saving Sync |
“I’d like to see brands like Apple or Nike working with the Bluetooth SIG to educate consumers about how the classic headset/handset Bluetooth wireless offering is far from the only option.”
- Fiona Thomson, IMS Research |
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An Expanded Ecosystem
An interview with Craig Ochikubo
By Gary Flood
With the recent finalization of the Bluetooth low energy specification, attention is focused on bringing devices to market. SIGnature took some time to talk with Craig Ochikubo, vice president and general manager of chipmaker Broadcom Corporation’s Wireless Personal Area Network Products group, to get his view on the coming role of Bluetooth low energy technology and the market potential.
How has Broadcom been involved in the development of Bluetooth low energy technology?
We’ve been there from day one, in fact from before there was a significant drive by the whole community to come up with the standard. We were partners with Nokia in Wibree before it was adopted by the Bluetooth SIG, and today, we are committed to the ongoing integration of multiple technologies into our offerings, including low energy. We are very much behind the spec and creation of use cases.
Is there one particular market segment catching the attention of Broadcom?
We are leaders in integrating Bluetooth technology in the PC, mobile handset and embedded consumer electronic devices markets. What we see low energy doing in that context is expanding the ecosystem as a whole. By adding a low energy solution, the whole Bluetooth wireless industry can take the technology to places and markets we just haven’t been in at all.
Such as?
Bluetooth technology is well-known and very successful in two core applications – cell phones and PCs. This is about getting into a whole new set of devices, a different business – things such as sensors or portable sports pedometers, applications where low data rate is just what you need. Broadcom is interested and active in the hardware to do that as well as the software to integrate it and the standard to make sure it all plays together right.
Some people are concerned Bluetooth low energy technology has come to the party a bit late.
I think that’s a little too strong a position, frankly. It was essential to ensure interoperability and that Bluetooth low energy devices could function properly. I think the time it took to engage the membership to make that happen was absolutely worth it.
So what are Broadcom’s plans around Bluetooth low energy technology?
The market should look to us to see an integration pathway for low energy into both our standalone and combo devices in a way that will bring it (to market) relatively quickly. One way to think of this might be to look at the classic example: the pedometer or other sports device. Yes, you need technology on the bit that attaches to the body, but you also need matching technology on the host side, to what it communicates with. There’s a lot of integration work here that makes a lot of sense to us as a company. We see a definite expansion of the whole ecosystem now that low energy is here.
Gary Flood, a U.K.-based technical communications specialist, spoke with Craig Ochikubo, vice president and general manager of Broadcom Corporation’s Wireless Personal Area Network Products group.
Maximum Potential
By Fiona Thomas
How can the Bluetooth SIG and its members make the most of the opportunity presented by the new Bluetooth low energy specification? At IMS Research, we have conducted extensive market analysis of the potential that this next step in the technology’s evolution and acceptance represents.
Our recent study, Bluetooth low energy: Diversifying Bluetooth Technology – 2009 Edition, concluded that global revenues for both dual-mode and single-mode devices could hit as much as US$1.3 billion within five years.
Great as that sounds, there are, without question, some challenges here for the Bluetooth SIG and its manufacturing members when it comes to low energy. It must be remembered that 2010 will still be a year of market development, not opportunity, as we still are waiting for the profiles to be completed. Look to 2011 and 2012 for significant low energy market ramp-up.
By 2014, we believe that as many as 80 percent of Bluetooth low energy enabled devices will have dual-mode, not single-mode, chips. Handset makers, led by Nokia, will mandate a move to dual-mode, and by sheer volume of market most replacement mobile phones will be equipped with dual-mode chips.
But that’s part of the problem. Unless consumers are actively engaged and educated as to what the point of Bluetooth low energy technology is and what they can do with it, the danger is we’ll end up with something of a hidden market. That could lead to missed opportunity.
The aim of the industry, ideally, is that for every dual-mode Bluetooth enabled product a consumer owns, they should have one or more single-mode Bluetooth low energy enabled products that can communicate with it. I’d like to see brands like Apple or Nike working with the Bluetooth SIG and its members to educate consumers about how the classic headset/handset Bluetooth wireless offering is far from the only option for them.
The industry also needs to ensure that single-mode device developers are suitably supported so that the number of single-mode devices can attempt to catch up with the dual-mode device market, which as noted will be given a huge boost by as simple a move as Nokia equipping one or two core models with dual-mode functionality. Bluetooth low energy technology powered by dual-mode chips will also score big as PCs and laptops begin to integrate the hardware.
So we at IMS think it’s important to realize there’s no simple Bluetooth low energy technology door that will open and all will be well. Single-mode devices need to be encouraged to find their niche markets or there will be an imbalance with the dual-mode market. We also need to see strong, effective marketing and education partnerships between dual-mode and single-mode device makers, especially those with established consumer brands, to exploit the tremendous potential we all see coming.
U.K.-based Fiona Thomson is research director for IMS Research’s Connectivity Group, where she focuses on short-range wireless technology. |