Nokia’s Wibree incorporated into Bluetooth

Nokia’s maligned Wibree technology received a huge dose of legitimization today, as the Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced it is incorporating the Wibree spec into the SIG’s Bluetooth portfolio of technology.

Wibree, which Nokia unveiled last year, is an ultra-low-power personal area network technology designed for devices with very low battery capacity and short range communications. The Bluetooth SIG said it would include Wibree as a profile in its growing list of Bluetooth technologies. The SIG has been branching out from its Bluetooth profile to include new technologies such as ultra wideband for high-speed applications and near-field communications for device association. Now Wibree fills in a slot in the low-capacity ranks, allowing devices to actively communicate with one another but at low power levels.

“Our members have been asking for an ultra low power Bluetooth solution,” said Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “With Nokia’s innovative development and contribution to the Bluetooth specification with Wibree, we will be able to deliver this in approximately one year.”

When Nokia first unveiled Wibree in October after five years of development, reception was luke warm at best and some media commentators mocked it outright. Critics question the need for another personal area network technology competing with Bluetooth, especially considering Bluetooth’s own trials in gaining widespread adoption. Nokia, however, always maintained that the technology was not competitive with other PAN technologies and also that it was actively seeking to include the specification in a broader industry standard. Nokia formed the Wibree Forum to standardize the technology and attracted several other radio chipset and device vendors, including Broadcom, Texas Instruments, ST Micro Electronics, Casio, Epson and Logitech. Wibree’s incorporation into the Bluetooth SIG, however, ensures it a much wider adoption for the technology

One analyst firm has big expectations for the technology and was positive about Wibree’s prospects long before entered into the Bluetooth SIG. IMS Research. IMS Research senior market analyst Fiona Thomson said that a lot of work has gone into rewriting the Wibree specification, and she expects the first public spec to be released in the first half of 2007, followed shortly by the first Bluetooth/Wibree integrated circuits (ICs).

“Before now it has been almost impossible to forecast for Wibree,” Thomson said. “However, IMS is confident that shipments will go from zero to tens of millions very quickly.” Thomson forecasted that dual-mode Bluetooth/Wibree chips shipped will exceed 120 million units in 2011.