Nokia’s Wibree to comprise part of Bluetooth standard

June 13, 2007 - Nokia and the Bluetooth SIG standards body have announced that Wibree, Nokia’s ultra low-power wireless communications technology, is to be developed as a new version of the Bluetooth standard.

Wibree will now become a Bluetooth solution for smaller and lower-powered devices, for example mobile phones, wireless keyboards, watches and even heart rate monitors.  The ultra-low power Wibree standard is anticipated to be finalized by mid-2008, and will make its way intp products shortly after.  Michael Foley, a Director for Bluetooth SIG, commented: “I would see the products coming relatively quickly after the specs are done.”

Wibree consumes only a fraction of the power that Bluetooth technology currently uses, and at present has a range of around 10 metres.  The new Wibree standard operates at a frequency of 2.4 GHz and has a physical bit layer rate of 1 Mbit/s.