December 6, 2001	Thursday	Ramazan 20, 1422

TOKYO, Dec 5: Technology giants Infineon of Germany and Japan’s Toshiba Corp. launched two key components Wednesday to enhance the benefits of Bluetooth in goods like personal computers and electronic notebooks.

The Infineon-Toshiba collaboration began in March 2001, and these first products are targeted for (certain) consumer products, the pair said in a statement.

Infineon developed a Bluetooth RF transceiver PMB 6626, while Toshiba conceived a Bluetooth baseband LSI with the help of technology from Finish phone operator Nokia. Together the components render a broader range of products bluetooth-compatible.

Our cooperation with Toshiba will further accelerate Bluetooth penetration into consumer products, said Christian Baumgart, vice president and general manager of Short Range Wireless at Infineon.

Toshiba said the pair hoped to lead the emerging digital consumer market with the new devices.

We see Bluetooth as the most promising digital communications technology, said Toshiba representative Shigeru Komatsu.

Bluetooth, developed by the Swedish group Ericsson in 1994, is a technological cooperative named after a 10th century Viking king which also counts IBM, Intel and Microsoft among its advocates.

Cahners In-Stat, a technology market research firm, predicts that 1.4 billion devices incorporating Bluetooth or other “personal network” technology will be manufactured in 2005.

But the technology suffers teething troubles, including the fear of wireless data “traffic jams” in homes that analysts say could give Bluetooth-enabled devices a short shelf life if solutions are not found.—AFP