June/July 2007

The Wibree standard for low-power short-range wireless interaction between devices is being incorporated into the Bluetooth specification. The emergent Wibree Forum is being assimilated into the existing Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

Nokia launched the Wibree specification last year as an open standard after a four-year development period, and we described it in m.logistics, issue 25. It operates on the same frequency as Bluetooth, but has much lower power requirements.

Nokia says it always intended to integrate the technology standard with some existing standard. According to Jarkko Sairanen, vice president of corporate strategy: 'Including Wibree within an existing forum will ensure interoperability and its wide and fast adoption. The Bluetooth SIG is the optimal new home for Wibree.'

The Bluetooth community have acknowledged the potential of Wibree to enhance current Bluetooth use, which focuses on mobile phones and PCs. It says the technology will allow very low power, 'sensor-type' devices to be drawn into the fold.