macnn/electronista
12/04/2008, 4:50pm, EST
Thursday, December 4thFaster Bluetooth 10x, 100x due out in mid-2009
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has announced it will introduce two new Bluetooth standards, called 10x and 100x, by the middle of 2009, according to a Thursday report. The former, 10x, will work together with WLAN for faster data transfer rates, while Bluetooth 100x will have use USB-like speeds, although without wires. Currently, Bluetooth 2.0 is capable of a maximum of 3Mbps. The new 10x standard should increase that cap to 30Mbps, while the 100x, as the name implies, up to at least 300Mbps.
The new speeds should allow for wireless video streaming or printing via mobile devices, though handsets will need to have WLAN or ultra wideband (UWB) radios. Bluetooth 10x will make the debut initially because current handsets have the necessary built-in Wi-Fi (WLAN) modules to support its data link feature, while the fastest Bluetooth 100x will need to wait for the more widespread integration of faster UWB radios to accommodate the higher Bluetooth speeds.
Filed under: industry, gadgets, networking
Other story tags: Bluetooth
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Oooooh
Now all they need is for anyone to actually implement this.
Increased standards are great. But if no one uses it (see Firewire 1600, 3200, etc), what's the point...
and implement the stack
Everybody just implements parts of BlueTooth. Like the iPhone can only connect to a mono-headset. No A2DP, hell, you can't even make a bluetooth connection with a computer to transfer data.
Random limitations like this hurt the 'BlueTooth' label, as you never can tell what should work (particularly for cell phones, you need to check both the manufacturer AND the carrier, as either will change what capabilities are enabled on the phone).