The Bluetooth SIG yesterday announced the formal adoption of the Bluetooth Core Specification Version 3.0 High Speed (HS), AKA Bluetooth 3.0. Originally announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, BT 3.0 is based on 802.11 – not Wi-Fi, but 802.11g. As I said many, many years ago, the 1/2/3 Mbps of previous Bluetooth radios is simply not fast enough for applications beyond, well, headsets. I have long advocated that the SIG adopt a “Bluetooth on Everything” strategy – wired, wireless, you name it. But the SIG, of course, was founded to help the Bluetooth chip vendors get their chips into everything, so the adoption of BT on 802.11 had to wait. But now it’s here, and this announcement further broadens the opportunities for wireless LANs in the WPAN space. Cool.
Note, however, that the SIG has also announced Bluetooth Low Energy technology, an evolution of Nokia’s Wibree technology. I still think Wi-Fi will eventually play in these apps as well, possibly using Wibree protocols. There will always be an incentive, in terms of cost, power, complexity, real estate, a more, to get down to the minimal number of radios, but I can certainly see specialized radios in the sensor space for at least the next few years.
And, yes, I’m sure the BT folks will move on to 802.11n once it’s ratified, and there’s still the possibility of getting BT onto UWB via the technology to be transferred from the WiMedia Alliance. The real challenge for the SIG now is to educate potential users as to the value of the BT applications stack, which I suspect is still underutilized beyond headsets, and to continue to add functionality here as well. But, regardless, Bluetooth on Everything is looking more likely all the time.
