Nokia has unveiled a short-range wireless rival to
Bluetooth, which uses less power and can be loaded onto smaller
devices.
Bluetooth was invented by Nokia rival Ericsson, but has become
an industry standard, used in millions of mobile devices and
printers.
Nokia has now launched its Wibree technology as an open industry
initiative. The technology is said to only use a fraction of the
power of other radio technologies, including Bluetooth.
Nokia said that this meant Wibree could be used in smaller
devices such as watches and other jewellery, sports sensors and
toys, for instance, and that it would be cheaper to implement.
Nokia expects that first commercial products to use Wibree to
appear in the second quarter of next year.
It is currently working with Broadcom, CSR, Epson and Nordic
Semiconductor on an interoperability specification, and intends
working with other firms in the near future.
Dr Bob Iannucci, head of the Nokia Research Center, said, "Our
aim is to establish an industry standard faster than ever before by
offering an interoperable solution that can be commercialised and
incorporated into products quickly."
Wibree has a range of up to 10 metres and provides access speeds
of around 1mbps, which is lower than Bluetooth. Wibree is
implemented either as stand-alone chip or as a Bluetooth-Wibree
dual-mode chip.
Small devices such as watches and sports sensors will be based
on stand-alone chips, whereas Bluetooth devices will benefit from a
dual-mode solution, giving them connectivity to a new range of
smaller devices.