Tuesday, July 8, 2003
Sony Claims to Have a 'Feel' for Bluetooth
Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 05:00 PM
"Making Bluetooth technology easier for consumers to use quickly emerged as a key issue at this year's low-key Bluetooth World Congress that opened here Tuesday (June 17). Resolving the ease-of-use issue would address designers concerns about consumers being scared away from the wireless technology. The Bluetooth community is struggling to find a way to ensure that consumers can quickly set up Bluetooth connectivity that currently takes hours in some cases. The goal is to get Bluetooth-enabled devices up and running within five minutes of taking them out of the box.
A Sony Corp. unit said it has the answer, but others here said they remain skeptical. Maria Khorsand, president of Ericsson Technology Licensing, in her keynote speech, called consumer acceptance of Bluetooth "one of the most critical issues we need to debate this year in our industry."
The article goes on to explain a solution Sony has developed called "Feel" - it sounds very interesting. They claim in as little as one second, two devices can see each other, and know exactly what to do. Sounds a little too good to be true - oh, wait, it is. :roll: Sony will license this technology to other companies, which of course means it will never take off because an arch-nemesis like Philips won't pay for a Sony-developed solution. Sony also makes no claims about how well this will work with non-Sony Bluetooth products.
They really don't get it, do they? Bluetooth, just like the DVD burning wars (that are thankfully now mostly over), is cursed by having implementation scenarios that are too difficult. Until Bluetooth is as easy as USB to use (install drivers, plug in, it works), it will not achieve mass-market adoption.
A Sony Corp. unit said it has the answer, but others here said they remain skeptical. Maria Khorsand, president of Ericsson Technology Licensing, in her keynote speech, called consumer acceptance of Bluetooth "one of the most critical issues we need to debate this year in our industry."
The article goes on to explain a solution Sony has developed called "Feel" - it sounds very interesting. They claim in as little as one second, two devices can see each other, and know exactly what to do. Sounds a little too good to be true - oh, wait, it is. :roll: Sony will license this technology to other companies, which of course means it will never take off because an arch-nemesis like Philips won't pay for a Sony-developed solution. Sony also makes no claims about how well this will work with non-Sony Bluetooth products.
They really don't get it, do they? Bluetooth, just like the DVD burning wars (that are thankfully now mostly over), is cursed by having implementation scenarios that are too difficult. Until Bluetooth is as easy as USB to use (install drivers, plug in, it works), it will not achieve mass-market adoption.
