Bluetooth 3.0

Formal adoption of Bluetooth 3.0 has been officially recognized at a meeting in Tokyo this week. The Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) met to discuss the latest in the Bluetooth technology and Bluetooth 3.0 has arrived, sort of.

Bluetooth 2.1 (which is what we currently use) carries data at the speed of 3Mbs. The new 3.0 will be much faster – “Bluetooth 3.0 uses the 802.11 radio protocol, which essentially lets the Bluetooth protocol piggyback on a Wi-Fi signal for large data transfers. Using the 802.11 Protocol Application Layer (PAL) gives it increased throughput for data transfers at a rate of 24 Mbps,” explains Channel Web.

Now that the group has adopted the new protocol, “consumer electronics and home entertainment device manufacturers now get the green flag to build their products that can swiftly send large amounts of video, music and photos wirelessly between devices. ” Bluetooth includes the ability to send large files (music, video and photos) and wirelessly bulk-syncronize music between your PC and your phone. Bluetooth also allows users to download photos to a printer (wirelessly), etc.

Tip: Make sure your Bluetooth devices are working by updating your Bluetooth drivers!