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Preeti Pandey

Indian companies in the Bluetooth technology space need to make their presence felt in innovative ways.

ALZHEIMER'S Disease slowly takes away ageing adults' ability to remember associated persons,

places and things that are familiar to them. Right now, a patient suffering from the disease has to rely solely on a caregiver to receive medicines at the right time, or a caregiver using an automatic medication dispenser. An automatic medication dispenser allows caregivers to set up medications, so when the beeper sounds, the right medicines can be administered at the right time.

But if research pans out, then sometime in the near future, an Alzheimer's patient would be more self-reliant, thanks to a technology called Bluetooth. A Bluetooth-enabled dispenser will remind the patient, track the patient's movements to see if the medication is taken on time, and tally that with the data on a central server. A nurse could directly scan patient records and even images (X-ray/ECG) using a Bluetooth-enabled personal digital assistant (PDA) that would then transfer the data using a Bluetooth-enabled smart-phone to the requisite users (insurance companies, lawyers, etc).

Bluetooth technology is basically a network of computers and devices that are wirelessly connected. The technology permits short-range communication between hand-helds (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops and desktop computers using rudimentary radio transmission. It can transfer both voice and data information from a range of 10 meters, up to 100 meters. Up to seven devices can be connected to one master computer. These devices, after entering the master computer's proximity, are automatically detected and can sync information.

Bluetooth has seen it all - the hype and then the rationalisation.

At the peak of the hype, there were over twentycompanies working in the Bluetooth arena from India. However, now there may be two or three serious players, says Vinod Deshmukh, CTO and Senior Vice-President, MindTree Consulting. While some Indian firms are into development of Bluetooth IP, others such as MAQ Software have partnered with foreign firms to develop Bluetooth-enabled applications.

While MindTree already has over 20 licences in Bluetooth, showcasing a potential for Indian firms to license their technology to multiple vendors, other areas of opportunities are in Bluetooth product engineering and qualification services, he says.

Rajeev Agarwal, Managing Consultant, MAQ Software, feels "we are not at the trailblazing end of it but on the trailing side of Bluetooth." What it means is that, for Indian firms, even though Bluetooth presents opportunities, it requires investments to tap the opportunity right. "This could take a substantial amount of investment in terms of engineering resources, tools, testing and validation environment and sales and marketing. It is a complex technology, needs understanding of hardware, software, and a good customer reference to be successful," Deshkmukh says. Perhaps this explains the reason for MAQ partnering with firms such as IMD and Medrec to help these US companies build Bluetooth-enabled applications. Manju Murthy, Director, WDC Solutions, a Bangalore-based firm that till a few years ago was firmly focussed on Bluetooth, says "We were ready to go to market. However, over the last two years we haven't found many takers for Bluetooth development and have since started to focus on other wireless and mobile computing technologies."

But Bluetooth's potential cannot be dismissed as such. Here are some interesting facts:

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