Bluetooth 2.0 announced

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) today announced the adoption of Bluetooth Core Specification Version 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate). Increased data rates – up to three times current levels – and lower power consumption will improve the Bluetooth user experience when running multiple Bluetooth devices simultaneously and transferring large data files, as well as enabling longer battery life in mobile devices.

The main features of Bluetooth Core Specification Version 2.0 + EDR are:

• 3 times faster transmission speed (up to 10 times in certain cases)
• Lower power consumption through reduced duty cycle
• Simplification of multi-link scenarios due to more available bandwidth
• Backwards compatible to earlier versions
• Further improved BER (Bit Error Rate) performance

The Bluetooth SIG expects products based upon the specification to be available in 2005. Products from the PC industry are expected to be the first on the market with the new specification, followed by devices for audio and imaging use cases.