future of bluetooth

The dominant WPAN today is Bluetooth technology. It is estimated by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) that there will be nearly a billion Bluetooth-enabled devices deployed by the end of 2007—and the rate of adoption is increasing.The initial use of Bluetooth technology was for audio applications, such as mobile phone headsets, where it excels because of its inherent low power consumption. However, the communications protocol was designed for much broader applications. Although there are significant differences in the layering and structure, the lower layers of the Bluetooth technology and the ISO-oriented example are similar. In this example, the WiMedia UWB technology shows it does not currently extend beyond the lowest layers.The speed of the Bluetooth technology is fairly slow by today’s standards. Wi-Fi and 802.11 are developing standards that will allow that technology to reach in excess of 120Mb/s. Today, a current Bluetooth device will go is fast as 3Mb/s. This is appropriate for audio streaming, but not nearly enough for heavy data-oriented applications like video.
The person of your dreams could be just a heartbeat away, thanks to a dating game that alerts you when a love match comes within a few metres of your mobile phone, New Scientist reports.
Using Bluetooth wireless technology — a short-range system built into many mobile phones — would-be daters subscribe to a service that stores a personal profile, their photograph and a wishlist of what they are looking for in a partner.
When the database spots enough similarities between two people who are in close proximity — say, in a shopping centre, office, bar or cafe — the service tells their mobile phones to communicate with each other, sending over a package of details and a picture.
After the help of technology, comes the human bit: deciding whether and how to talk to a complete stranger.
The idea, called Serendipity, is the brainchild of four scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, according to the report in the British weekly.
Their hope is to take some of the roughness out of blind dating.

With Bluetooth technology, potential love matches will "connect" when they are within 10 metres of each other.
Participants can adjust the settings in line with their mood and willingness to meet strangers.
For instance, they may want their profiles to be sent only to friends of friends, and can alter their availability according to their mood or whether they are in a situation for socialising.
AFP