December 2, 1999 Web posted at: 8:29 a.m. EST (1329 GMT) by Mary Lisbeth D'Amico

From...

(IDG) -- Efforts to develop wireless Bluetooth technology gained momentum this week as four vendors said they would help promote the emerging wireless technology.

3Com, Lucent, Microsoft and Motorola say they will join the five founders of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group -- L.M. Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba -- to form a nine-member Bluetooth Promoter Group. The group will focus on improving the Bluetooth specification and conducting interoperability tests.

The nine companies will combine their skills to help promote Bluetooth as Bluetooth-enabled products come to market, the companies say.

Bluetooth promises to connect up to eight devices, including PCs, mobile phones, handhelds and peripherals, using low-frequency radio waves to transmit voice and data.

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Having more vendors support the Bluetooth specification will also give users greater choices in what devices they can link together.

Bluetooth products will not be ready anytime soon, however. More than 1,200 vendors who want their devices to qualify for the Bluetooth seal have to undergo interoperability tests at a Bluetooth developers conference being held Dec. 7 through Dec. 9 in Los Angeles. Until then, no products can be put on the market.