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Bluetooth wireless was thought to be dead before it had a chance to arrive not too long ago. Yet today, you would be hard pressed to find a mid- to high-level PDA or smartphone, for example, without the technology integrated.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), an association mandated to support Bluetooth adoption, commissioned two studies by research firm Millward Brown to ascertain just how far Bluetooth-based personal area networking has come.

Millward’s first study took place in the Fall of 2003 and the second at the same time the following year. Researchers asked a series of questions to determine Bluetooth awareness, attitudes, and usage among consumers between the ages of 18 and 70 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan.

Here's what they discovered:

Bluetooth awareness increased from 47 to 77 percent in the UK, 43 to 61 percent in Japan, and 22 to 41 percent in the U.S between 2003 and 2004. In addition, twice as many people knew about Bluetooth than Wi-Fi in the UK and Japan, with knowledge of the two wireless technologies about equal in the U.S.

Almost half the people surveyed last year in the UK and Japan recognized the Bluetooth logo (up about 30 percent in 2003 for both countries), a number that drops significantly to 25 percent in the U.S, an increase of only 10 percent.

Consumers are most aware of Bluetooth in the mobile phones, PDAs, and computers across all three regions. The UK continues to have the most informed Bluetooth consumer among those surveyed, with an awareness of headset utilization as high as 40 percent. Less informed are Americans, with an increase of only 5 to 11 percent, and Japanese with a meager growth of 6 to 10 percent.

Overall, the studies' findings of more knowledge and awareness of Bluetooth in the UK and Japan should come as no surprise. That's because the technology debuted in the Asian and European markets long before it bowed in the U.S.

In addition, faster cellular-networks in those areas mean less of a need by many consumers for Wi-Fi, hence the lower awareness for it in Japan and the UK. Why drop by a hot spot if you can get the information you need at the speed you desire wherever you stand?

Bluetooth SIG executive director Dr. Michael Foley said, "It is encouraging to see consumer awareness mirror the rise in volumes of Bluetooth products we have seen over the last year.

The organization reports Bluetooth device volumes doubled to an installed base of over 250 million units from 2003 to 2004. It predicts continued growth to 450 million unite by end of this year.

Foley added, "In order for any technology to succeed, it must be recognized and understood by the consumer," however. Although Bluetooth still has a ways to go, it has made considerable progress—far more than many industry pundits would have predicted.