According to a new study of the Bluetooth market by Micrologic Research, the outlook for Bluetooth remains promising, although not quite as rosy as it appeared a year ago.

Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology that enables devices such as cellular telephones, handheld computers, wireless headsets, and entertainment systems to communicate with each other without the need for cables.

Micrologic Research says that despite the generally promising outlook for Bluetooth, the lackluster recovery in the worldwide economy will have a negative effect on all communications markets, and Bluetooth will be no exception. Micrologic Research now forecasts that 35.3 million Bluetooth chipsets will ship this year, down from the 45.4 million figure that the company had earlier predicted.

Micrologic Research said it now believes that the 1-billion-chipset mark will not be exceeded until 2006, when it is forecasting sales of 1.3 billion Bluetooth chipsets. Previously, the company had forecast that the 1-billion mark would be reached in 2005.