Software giants Microsoft have announced that they are withdrawing support for Bluetooth, the short range radio linking system for use between mobile computing devices. The company has announced that Windows XP, their next major operating system release, will not include support for Bluetooth because, "the maturity of Bluetooth technology is not good enough".
Microsoft originally pledged their support of the new technology as part of a consortium which included IBM, Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, and Toshiba. Their recent re-appraisal is claimed to be due to Bluetooth's failure to perform well at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany, where an attempt to create a wireless network in the conference hall using visitors' palmtop computers failed.
Cynics like myself might be left wondering if perhaps this is just the sort of excuse that Microsoft have been looking for; judging by their previous form, their next move might conceivably be to release their own version and then insist that everyone else ought to adopt it.
Commenting on his employer's decision to withdraw their support, the general manager of Microsoft's Windows division, Carl Stork, explained that they, "wouldn't want to ship something that doesn't work."
How admirable, Carl.
Main source:
http://www.teledotcom.com/article/TEL20010402S0008