Nokia extends Bluetooth into low power applications
Nokia has launched a new wireless standard to add to the short-range wireless mix.
Wibree borrows much from Bluetooth including frequencies and antennas, but lowers the power consumption to make it more applicable for devices with low-bandwidth requirements such as embedded sensors and user interface devices ? mice and keyboards. More particularly, Wibree devices have extremely low idle-time power consumption, making it ideal for devices which spend a great deal of time sitting around doing nothing: such as a typical mouse, or a watch which can display caller-ID. Bluetooth can be used in these applications, but consumes a comparatively large amount of power.
Nokia foresees devices such as mobile phones supporting both Bluetooth and Wibree, with both technologies sharing chips and antenna, while a mouse or wristwatch would only support Wibree with a corresponding increase in battery life. By designing the standard as an adjunct to Bluetooth the cost of adding it should be tiny, though it is unlikely to be much cheaper than Bluetooth to implement alone.
