Bellevue, WA – The Board of Directors of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the more than 8,000-member strong trade association responsible for advancing Bluetooth wireless technology, yesterday announced the adoption of Core Specification Version 2.1+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) by unanimous approval. Through advances in security, simplified pairing and power consumption, the new Bluetooth specification will offer consumers a further improved Bluetooth experience.

????The simplified pairing process enabled by Version 2.1+EDR has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from media, analysts and member companies. This leap forward in usability further improves the Bluetooth experience and makes the technology easy for anyone to enjoy,???? said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. ????Also, in our effort to unite wireless technologies, Version 2.1 + EDR enables the ultra short range technology called Near Field Communication (NFC) for a pairing scenario that is as simple as touching the products together.????

The Bluetooth SIG anticipates silicon vendors such as Broadcom, CSR, Infineon and Texas Instruments will have Bluetooth v2.1+ EDR chips available immediately and that the first products will follow by the end of the year. Industry analyst and Bluetooth silicon expert Fiona Thomson of IMS Research stated, ????In 2006 a significant proportion of Bluetooth ICs sold were Version 1.1 and 1.2 but this is rapidly changing as new designs transition to Version 2.0 or 2.1 +EDR. Initial demand for 2.1+EDR indicates that following a period of migration, this version will become the default standard.????