Last week I made the trip out to Sweden to say hello to a number of clients we work with in the region, namely Sony Ericsson and Teleca. During one of the meetings we got on to discussing Bluetooth technology and I asked the question – “Where did the name Bluetooth come from?”
So I thought I would write a quick blog on the name Bluetooth. Firstly I think it is worth me writing a little bit of info about what Bluetooth actually is.
Bluetooth is a wireless technology that enables any electrical device to wirelessly communicate in the 2.5 GHz (license free) frequency band.
It allows devices such as mobile phones, headsets, PDA's and portable computers to communicate and send data to each other without the need for wires or cables to link to devices together. It was specifically designed as a low cost, low power technology. It is basically a low cost, low size, and low power version of wireless LAN technology.
So now you know what it is, I will now explain how it was created and named in such a way. Bluetooth was originally conceived by Ericsson in 1994, when they began a study to examine alternatives to cables that linked mobile phone accessories. Ericsson already had a strong capability in short range wireless, having been a key pioneer of the European cordless telecommunications standard. Out of their study was born the specification for Bluetooth wireless. Bluetooth was named after Harald Blatand (or Bluetooth), a tenth century Danish Viking king who had united and controlled large parts of Scandinavia which are today Denmark and Norway. The name was chosen to highlight the potential of the technology to unify the telecommunications and computing industries - although it was chosen as an internal codename, and it was never at the time expected to survive as the name used in the commercial arena - but that is another blog for another day...
In February 1998, the Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) was founded by a small core of major companies - IBM, Intel, Nokia, Toshiba and Ericsson - to work together to develop the technology and to subsequently promote its widespread commercial acceptance.
Six months later the core Promoter Members announced publicly the global SIG and invited other companies to join, with free access to the technology as Bluetooth adopters in return for commitment to support the Bluetooth specification. Adoption was rapid and 1998-1999 saw a boom in the market for Bluetooth conference organisers, and vast amounts of hype regarding the potential of the technology.
In December 1999 it was announced that four more major companies had joined the SIG as Promoter Members. Microsoft, Agere Systems (then Lucent), 3Com and Motorola. Since its original foundation, the Bluetooth SIG has transitioned into a not-for-profit trade association, Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Membership is open to all companies wishing to develop market and promote Bluetooth products at two levels - Associate and Adopter Members.