Bluetooth may get a boost in the near future with Apple and Microsoft integrating the short-range wireless technology into their operating systems, according to a PC World article.
Bluetooth implementation in Mac OS X 10.2 (“Jaguar”) and Windows XP should help pull Bluetooth adoption out of a slow start, according to some analysts. But though Apple is set to introduce native Bluetooth support Mac OS X 10.2, due Aug. 24, Microsoft won’t ship its Bluetooth software stack in Service Pack 1 for Windows XP as had been expected, according to PC World. Instead, it will deliver it in the fourth quarter or late in the third quarter, according to Charmaine Gravning, a product manager for Windows.
Meanwhile, Apple is conducting interoperability testing with device vendors and will certify a list of products that work with its operating system, PC World reports. Its work, along with that of Microsoft, will help solve application-level problems involved in using Bluetooth with PCs, Skip Bryan, director of marketing at Ericsson Technology Licensing (a division of L.M. Ericsson Telephone, which pioneered Bluetooth), says in the article.
Currently, Apple is offering a Bluetooth Preview Release, a “sneak peek” version of the software that lets users of current USB-equipped Macs communicate with Bluetooth-equipped wireless devices when connected to third-party Bluetooth adapters. To use it you’ll need the D-Link DWB-120M Bluetooth USB Adapter attached to an available USB port on your Mac. You can order it from Apple’s online store.
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