With actual Bluetooth consumer acceptance only a few years old, it already looks like its dominance as a wireless connection technology is already being challenged by an upstart.
This looks to be the case as Nokia, the world’s mobile phone market leader, showed to the public a new short range wireless connection that is not only smaller but also more energy efficient than the current Bluetooth technology. In fact the new technology is so diminutive that it could likely be used in such small devices like watches.
The new radio technology is called WiBree and is actually envisioned to work alongside Bluetooth wireless connections but only use just fraction of the power.
According to the Nokia Research Center, the WiBree is actually 10 times more energy efficient compared to Bluetooth.
The company also mentioned that it has been working on this new technology for the past five years and is set to put it through a standardization process along with other wireless technology firms. When the WiBree has been able to achieve standard status it will make the technology available to other companies at very reasonable terms.
Nokia said that its goal is to establish an industry standard at a record pace and it will do this by offering an interoperable solution that can be “commercialized and incorporated into products as quickly as possible.”
Similar to Bluetooth, WiBree can also provide a radio link of up to 10 meters between devices. Its small size and low energy consumption also means that WiBree radio chips would enable the more efficient connection of phones and other electronic gadgets to such devices as watches, sports sensors and even health monitors.
[tags]bluetooth, wibree, Nokia, wireless, wireless technology, mobile phones[/tags]