Bluetooth Technology Bringing Unprecedented Functionality to Wireless Devices in Fitness, Health, Home and Automotive

Bluetooth v4.0 empowers members with the features that are synonymous with Classic Bluetooth technology - simple, safe and everywhere - while at the same time providing them with the additional options of both high speed and low energy functionality, a level of flexibility that no other wireless technology provides. These advances in Bluetooth v4.0 are allowing Bluetooth SIG members to move into several new markets, like health and fitness, home entertainment, sensor and automation, while remaining the mainstay wireless technology in mobile phones, automobiles, computers and peripheries.

To further drive innovation and development with Bluetooth technology and continue its rapid membership growth, the Bluetooth SIG recently created five Bluetooth Ecosystem Teams (BETs), to focus on key markets including mobile phones, automobiles, health and fitness, CE/PC and smart energy. Each BET is led by industry thought-leaders tasked with creating parameters for the next iteration of Bluetooth wireless functionality, ensuring updates to the specification are relevant to all key markets.

“Bluetooth technology, as evidenced by our growing and diverse membership as well as our massive install base of over 4 billion Bluetooth enabled products, continues to delight end-users and transform entire industries,” said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “Today, Bluetooth technology is enabling a heart rate monitor that detects and alerts your physician to irregular rhythms, a grilling thermometer that buzzes your phone when the steak is done, and gym equipment that automatically adjusts to your settings when you walk in the door, and that is just the beginning. The SIG membership is leading a new wave of wireless connectivity across several industries – if you want to shape the future of wireless connections, the SIG is the place to be.”

The Bluetooth SIG’s 14,000th member is Smith-Root, located in Vancouver, Washington, which makes a diverse range of products for aquatic researchers, fish conservation agencies and the fisheries industry. The company plans to use Bluetooth technology to develop a headset that will record notes for use by researchers and workers in the field.

“Smith-Root’s mission is to strive for excellence through our products and provide our customers with new, reliable, easy-to-use fisheries technology,” said Sean Janson, sales and marketing manager for Smith-Root. “This is why we elected to use Bluetooth technology in the new headset we are working on. The technology’s low cost, ease-of-use and already present infrastructure in smartphones made it the most suitable wireless technology for us.”

For more information on Bluetooth v4.0, visit www.bluetooth.com. For information on becoming a Bluetooth SIG member, visit www.bluetooth.org