3Com enters Bluetooth market

3Com will be among the first companies to market with Bluetooth-based connectivity products, it claims.

The company is one of dozens working on Bluetooth-based technology, which links mobile phones, pagers, personal digital assistants and computers to each other and to the internet.

While analysts say widespread use of the technology is still about two years away, 3Com plans to ship its first three Bluetooth products early next year. It will ship notebook PC cards and USB adapters that have the technology built in to allow Bluetooth support.

Intel will also release similar products in the first half of next year, while Motorola has already shipped Bluetooth-enabled notebook PC cards and USB adapters, which are being bundled into IBM and Toshiba laptops.

3Com says new Bluetooth products will work together with AirConnect, its existing wireless technology. They will be the first products for businesses since the company's major strategic overhaul in March.

It said at the time that it wanted to build easy-to-use networking products for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as the branch offices of large corporations.

Chairman Eric Benhamou said in a conference speech in October: "We need to combine rich connectivity with radical simplicity, and design networks from an end user perspective. Only by doing this will SMEs and consumers really be able to access the information and services they need to enhance their lives."

In April 3Com plans to ship a web-caching device that speeds the delivery of websites to employees, as well as a content switch device that eases network traffic congestion by distributing traffic evenly among servers on a network.