The "Connectivity Technologies Industry Update - August 2010" from IMS Research contains the statement that "the development of Bluetooth high speed and Wi-Fi Direct could bring the technologies head-to-head for the first time", well perhaps the first time in the last few years. My memory goes back a little further. When Bluetooth was first launched I recall many claims and counterclaims that pitched Bluetooth and WiFi head-to-head (albeit without techncial basis on some occasions) but time saw both technologies grow from strength to strength.
Standard Bluetooth after many years of progress is suitable for applications like:
- Headset &/or Handsfree, Clarinox provides a slimline Class 1 or Class 2 Bluetooth 3.0 board design with integrated software for the Bluetooth A2DP, AVRCP, Handsfree and Headset profiles
- Remote control, command/diagnostics: anything from medical equipment to remotely controlled robots, for Clarinox case study see http://www.clarinox.com/docs/CaseStudies/Bluetooth_Health&Medical_ap...
- Short range voice to facilitate real time transfer of information for fire fighters, construction workers, machine room staff or anyone who wants audio network within a confined area
- Message access, phonebook access and other handset related functions; Voice prompts for control of phone calls - or equipment items; File, music or even video data transfer; In cabin automotive entertainment applications
In addition to this list, as IMS have discussed, Bluetooth now has high speed capability which opens up many new applications such as video streaming. However high speed is not the only change, as Bluetooth 4.0 also brings a low power version which will allow tiny, button battery based, devices to run for many years on one set of batteries.
So, back to that comment from IMS, well yes, the addition of both low speed and high speed versions of the Bluetooth technology will expand the application potential for Bluetooth and hence will cause it to compete against other technologies in those spaces - will the competition be head-to-head? I think that at this time, as the internet of things ramps up, both WiFi and Bluetooth will have a place.
