Making Contact
By Joe McKendrick
IMAGINE WALKING out to your car in an unlit parking lot on a cold, dark night and having the car start up, with the lights coming on and doors unlocking before you even take your keys out of your pocket. Or imagine being able to locate a set of car keys with your cell phone, simply by following a signal that accelerates in the same fashion as a Geiger counter.
These are only some of the proximity applications that will be made possible by Bluetooth low energy technology. Fiona Thomson, research director for IMS Research, says that the more than 1 billion Bluetooth low energy technology enabled devices she estimates will ship over the next four years will make it “the fastest-shipping wireless technology ever.” She predicts that the new specification will replace proprietary technologies in many cases, driving Bluetooth technology into new markets.
The Proximity Profile, to be completed in the first quarter of 2010, will make it possible for devices to communicate with each other and perform functions automatically when within range. The sky’s the limit as to the type of proximity applications that will be developed in the coming years.
“It’s all in your imagination, when you think about it,” says Mika Sarén, technology marketing manager for local connectivity devices R&D with Nokia Group. “Think of all the things in your daily use that could be made aware of your presence.”
For starters, consider the mobile phone. A dual-mode Bluetooth wireless chip can be used to communicate with sensors, such as those in locks or in environmental controls, enabling doors to unlock or temperatures to adjust when the user’s phone is in range. Or consider a key fob that uses a Bluetooth low energy connection to open a garage door when the car drives up to the entrance. Parents can be alerted via a watch or mobile phone if small children – wearing wristbands or Bluetooth low energy enabled watches – leave the immediate vicinity.
In the workplace, the new technology might even play an active role in security. “Every IT manager’s dream is to have PCs that automatically lock when the users are not around,” says Sarén, who notes that the cell phone or a key fob could be on the other end of the proximity link. “And every user’s dream is a PC that opens up whenever they approach it, so they don’t have to remember all the passwords.”
Syncing devices is another application. “A headset or a watch can provide a notification of when you’re too far away from your handset or another device to use it,” says Peter Cook, specification director for the Bluetooth SIG. “When you get back into range, it will let you know that the device that it’s paired with is back into range.”
Bluetooth low energy technology consumes a fraction of the power of classic Bluetooth technology. In many cases, low energy products will operate for more than a year on a tiny button cell battery without the need for recharging. The specification “will enable devices such as key fobs and remote controls to be made much simpler than they are today,” Sarén explains. “They will have a smaller form factor with the button cell batteries. They won’t have to worry about changing the battery every two weeks.”
The Bluetooth low energy specification facilitates the rapid building and deployment of new applications, which promises to foster an entire ecosystem of application providers, from mobile phone manufacturers to key fob manufacturers. Look no further than the iPhone as an example of how an engaged partner network can deliver imaginative solutions to a platform. Apple proudly advertises “there’s an app for that.”
As more partners begin creating ways to use the Bluetooth low energy specification, many imaginative solutions will begin to emerge that may not have even been thought of yet. Developing proximity applications will be relatively easy, says Cook. “Application developers will be able to have new applications ready in just a few months. It becomes a matter of updating the software, rather than updating the hardware.”
Joe McKendrick is a research consultant and author specializing in information technology and management trends. |