nokia announced the wibree radio technology today - 1mbit, 2.4ghz, 5-10meters. it was bluetooth that first made me think about high data rate (compared to HAM data radios) and home PCs/electronics. It was bluetooth, not 802.11, that led me to the personal telco project. the hype for bluetooth was HUGE. for 50 more cents a unit, coffee machines and cell phones and laptops would all be happily coversing with each other, making life easier, more connected for humans. ericsson, who started bluetooth, has been good about putting it in every phone. i was most excited about palm saying every palm from some date forward would have bluetooth. my cell phone is still the old ericsson t39. the first cell phone with bluetooth and gprs. my phone and pda would make a personal area network where i could surf the web right from my pda, with my phone being the essential link to the outside world. while i got the phone, i never got the pda. id like to get a palm T|X or whatever comes after that model.

it took a LONG time for bluetooth to become ubiquitous and cheap. why would nokia want to start over? power consumpiton is a big point for nokia. bluetooth made the same claim against 802.11. i imagine licencing issues were involved since bluetooth is owned by nokia's largest competitor. thats a crappy reason to invent yet another standard. id like to see more penetration of this kind of tech into every day devices - one step closer to the borg/hive mind/singularity when everything electronic can ask each other questions. all devices should mesh and agree to move data on other's behalf so i can send a text message to a friend a mile away using only the density of cell phones and coffee makers and alarm clocks that exist between here and there.