Survey: consumers interested in Bluetooth benefits

Apple may have picked a good time to enter the Bluetooth arena. No much headway has been made over the last year to increase the knowledge, or familiarity, of Bluetooth among the U.S. general public, according to a new report, “Bluetooth Surveys: Adoption Panel & General Public Want Wireless Peripherals & Internet at Home,” from the high-tech market research firm of In-Stat/MDR.

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The firm’s recent surveys of its Technology Adoption Panel (early adopters, and higher-end consumers) and the general public found that Bluetooth familiarity of the panel was about 45 percent, compared to less than 10 percent for the general public. However, the surveys revealed that interest in Bluetooth was much higher than familiarity, with respondents in both survey groups expressing “significant interest” in the technology, according to Joyce Putscher, a director with In-Stat/MDR. In-Stat/MDR’s survey also revealed:

In general, the more consumers know about Bluetooth, the more interest they have in Bluetooth benefits and products — and the more they’re willing to pay for those benefits.

Over half of the panel was interested in wireless printing at home and wirelessly accessing the Internet without a home network.

Among panel members, the willingness to pay higher prices for a bundled Bluetooth mobile phone and cordless headset went hand in hand with greater Bluetooth familiarity.

Compared to the average consumer, those who are interested in Bluetooth’s benefits have a greater tendency to fall into the higher income brackets.

Apple offers a Bluetooth Preview Release, software that allows users of current USB-equipped Macs to communicate with Bluetooth-equipped wireless devices when connected to third-party Bluetooth adapters. The Bluetooth Preview Release is dependent on having the D-Link DWB-120M Bluetooth USB Adapter attached to an available USB port on your Mac.