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Bluetooth Group Finalizes Logos To ID 4.0 Devices

Kirkland, Wash. – The
Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) unveiled two new Bluetooth logos to help
retailers and consumers identify products equipped with Bluetooth 4.0, the
low-energy-consumption version of Bluetooth.

Bluetooth 4.0 was designed to extend Bluetooth
wireless connectivity to sensor-type devices powered by button-cell batteries.
Sensors could be built into home health-care devices, portable physical-fitness
devices such as heart-rate monitors and pedometers, and into any other device
that requires low power consumption, including 3D glasses and future smart-home
devices.

 The
Bluetooth Smart logo will designate sensor-type battery-operated devices that
communicate with other low-power sensors and with battery-operated devices such as wristwatches.
Bluetooth Smart devices will also communicate with” hub” devices — such as
smartphones, tablets, and computers — that carry the Bluetooth Smart Ready
logo. Smart Ready devices will incorporate Bluetooth 4.0 and existing
higher-power-consumption versions of Bluetooth, enabling the hubs to communicate with the current installed base of billions
of Bluetooth devices, the
group said.

 To get Bluetooth Smart Ready certification, a
hub device must also give
consumers the ability to download current and future 4.0 device profiles so
they can be used with any certified
4.0 sensor that comes on the market. The Bluetooth group has already developed 10
profiles, such as a blood-pressure
monitor profile that sends blood-pressure data to a phone or computing device for use by caregivers and for use in healthcare
records.

 A phone-alert profile enables a watch or similar device to
notify the user that a cellphone is
ringing, vibrating or displaying a message. A proximity profile enables a
device such as a key fob to lock/unlock another device, such as
when a PC, when the key fob goes beyond a
certain range. A time profile enables devices to receive time, date
and time zone information from a phone or GPS device that has accurate time
information.

 The group is also developing a profile for active 3D glasses as well as for home-energy-management
systems, Bluetooth group chief marketing officer Suke
Jawanda said.

 Select 4.0 devices are already on the market
or have been announced,
Jawanda added. They include the iPhone 4S, Apple MacBook Air, Mac Mini, Casio G
Shock watch, Nordic heart-rate monitor and a weight scale from iHealth. Windows
8 will also support Bluetooth 4.0, he added.

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