Rumor: Bluetooth Memory Stick Available Soon Outside Japan

I could have sworn I just read something on C-Net not more than a week ago stating Bluetooth chip prices around $5 bulk. With manufacturing costs, R&D, and everything else I couldn't expect these units to cost more than $60 retail. Even at that price they would make a killing by selling in volume.

I'm a PDA geek and would not even think about buying one for $200.

--Dave

You can't forget the $200 LED on the top of the stick that glows a cool blue. Without that, who needs Bluetooth?

That's true. Companies typically try to make up for all it's development costs early in the product cycle. This ensures the product will become profitable. This is especially true in the high-tech market, where a product will typically only sell for 2 yrs. As mentioned, new chip sets are on the way, so a whole new development process will be necessary. If they can't turn the current model into a profit soon, it never will. You should also consider the time value of your purchase. Maybe you pay more to get it early. On the other hand, you will have had use of the device for much longer when they are obsolete. i.e. Break it down to $/day. If you pay $200 for it now, and get 3 years of use out of it, you came out better than paying $100 for it two years later, when you'd only get a year's use out of it.

I'm not saying the product is worth $200, but it's just something to help husbands justify it to their wives.(G)

Tip DS

more than $400.

The ericsson t68 is around $600.

Every bluetooth product that is available now costs alot.

The Ericsson T68 with bluetooth is $199 at ATTWS and cheaper with some mLife plans.

www.shopattwireless.com/webcode/main/phones.asp

$199 for a T68 is probably a sim-locked
phone with contract (meaning that the cellular
phone provider probably gave discounts up front
on the phone to ensure a steady stream of
revenue later on). That isn't comparing apples
to oranges. Just like getting a Treo activated
will be cheaper.

Try comparing a T68 sim-unlocked with no contract.

In Canada, the T68i can be had for about $450 CDN.

Not necessarily. If you look at the PocketPC scene, you'll actually find that a lot of the machines are starting to have 802.11b and Bluetooth integrated. (Case in point, the Ipaq and the Toshiba e740).

I don't see why sony or palm WOULDN'T start integrating these same wireless features in, as these features are mainly aimed towards the business or high end users - ie) palm/sony can charge a higher premium, therefore a better gross margin.

I've tried it too... bought it here in Singapore and I don't speak a lick of Japanese. The English drivers are obvious because they don't have the _JAjp or whatever on them... Also, the performance using dialup (9600 baud) with my Ericsson T68 isn't bad. I've tried the GPRS too and it connects quickly, but I think my provider has coverage issues... (M1 here in Sing.)

Also, just synched today with my laptop and it worked great, except it was slower than my USB cable.. convenient, but disappointing.

The extra Bluetooth drivers are easy to use, but a bit clunky. (takes a few clicks to disable the BT mem stick - since it drains a bit more power)

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. However, Bluetooth is still a bit clunky to setup and it isn't as automatic as you'd expect - usually requires a manually initiated connection.

Hope that all helps. By the way, you can also buy it at http://www.expansys.com - they have a great Bluetooth section of their website.

Cheers.

Huh? The new mini-MS is a memory-only product, at least as conveyed in Sony's announcements. The "full-size" MS is their only hardware expansion medium for the foreseeable future.

Now that, of course, doesn't get into Sony's proclivity to try to bundle every peripheral they deign you to have into the device itself, a la NR-70V.

Troll, your first sentence is wrong already.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=3582

Sony is not replacing MS with Duo. They will coexist & serve different purposes (Duo for memory storage, MS for I/O devices), so that you can take pictures using a MS camera module, and store them in a Duo; or use a MS GPS, and stores the maps in a Duo. Get it?

And hello, when Sony come out with a new Duo Bluetooth, or built-in bluetooh Clie, why would I need to buy the same device for a second time? Because Sony planted a time-bomb in the MS bluetooth stick that will suddenly explode when a new Bluetooth stick is released?

Troll, let me say this one more time: it's good that companies release new things fast, so that consumers will have a choice. Old devices do not obsolete because new devices come out.

Analogy: Your computer still function well when Intel releases a Pentium 4 2.2GHz right? If you need those fast processors, upgrade. If you only do email/word processing, continue to use your old machine which serves you well. Do you complain to Intel & AMD asking them to stop releasing new processors for 2 years?

I know, you might say that "no no no, Sony's new devices use different adaptor/connector, so old Clie obsolete". While this is somewhat true, most software continues to run on old & new Clie/Palm/Handspring. Sony releasing new connector is like Compaq releasing a new port replicator connector on their laptops. If you need lots of hardware accessories, get a Palm, and good for you! We have choices, and that's good.

Just don't complain that old devices obsolete the minute a new one comes out; and nobody force you to upgrade whenever a new one comes out.

I am not a Troll. I own a sony PDA you nin-com-poop. I just don't like how quickly sony makes something good and then trun around and make it obsolete. Thanks to ED for claryfing the point that MS is not going away. I like this site very much. keep up the good work Ed.

Well, I have always ordered from Brando with my credit card. Works like a charm.

I bought with these guys too - very helpful, give them a try. They even gave me a floppy with the English drivers in case I didn't have Win2K to read the CD-ROM.

Also, for all N710C owners, make sure you upgrade to OS 4.1 first! Don't know if you can any more though... I think Sony discontinued the upgrade...