UK-based automotive consulting firm SBD has released a (paid for) report predicting that increasing numbers of cars will be sold with the option of Bluetooth hands-free systems, designed to link to the driver’s mobile phone. Hopefully with a little more user-friendliness than the current system installed in some Seats. It also notes that automotive Bluetooth could be given a more versatile role, perhaps by linking to music players or to navigation systems - TomTom already supplies a Bluetooth GPS unit designed to link to Bluetooth-equipped PDAs, so the potential for upgrading a Bluetooth equipped car after it leaves the showroom is clear.
SBD's main conclusion seems to be that, as Bluetooth phones become the norm, so too will Bluetooth-equipped cars.
The development of Bluetooth has already had an impact on the provision of embedded car telephones, with some manufacturers deleting them as options