Popular demand delays Japanese Bluetooth trial

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By Kuriko Miyake

(IDG) -- A Bluetooth wireless technology test, which was expected to start mid-July, has been delayed for a month due to greater-than-expected public demand, Nippon Ericsson said Tuesday.

The companies planned to invite 100 people to take part in the trial, but more than 1,500 people applied, Hiroko Kitabatake, a spokeswoman for Ericsson said.

The Bluetooth Launch Trial (BLT) project, run by Ericsson together with Handspring and trading company Marubeni Group, will allow PC and personal digital assistant (PDA) users to access the Internet and special content via a Bluetooth wireless network in two cafes and two electronics stores in Tokyo, as well as on high-speed bullet trains.

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Originally, Marunouchi Cafe and So-net Cafe were to rent PDAs to a limited number of registered trial users. However, trial applicants said they preferred to use their own Bluetooth-enabled devices. At the same time, device manufacturers approached the BLT project office and said that they also were interested in participating.

The companies behind the project have decided to open the trials to anyone who owns Bluetooth-enabled devices and are now developing a system that will support more products. The service at cafes will start on Aug. 27, Kitabatake said. The trial on trains will start in September, as originally planned. No start date has been determined for the trial in electronics stores, she said.

The trials are expected to last until the end of October or November and Marubeni hopes to commercialize the service, according to Kitabatake.