What is Bluetooth?

The name "Bluetooth" is taken from the 10th century Danish King Harald Blatand - or Harold Bluetooth in English. During the formative stage of the Trade Association a code name was needed to name the effort. Over an evening discussing European history and the future of wireless technology several felt it was appropriate to name the technology after King Blatand. He had been instrumental in uniting warring factions in parts of what is now Norway, Sweden and Denmark - just as the technology is designed to allow collaboration between differing industries such as the computing, mobile phone and automotive markets. The code name stuck.

In Jelling, Denmark a monument can be found in a church yard that celebrates both his achievements and those of his father the first king of Denmark "Gorm the Old". Interestingly this particular stone was lost for nearly six-hundred years after Harald had a small war with his own son, Sven Forkbeard, over control of the country. Sven "won" the argument (exiling his father in the process), and since this runic stone also glorified Harald, Sven had it buried. Only years later a farmer, curious about a large mound in his farm, rediscovered the stone.

The logo itself was originally designed by a Scandinavian firm at the time the trade association was announced to the public. Keeping to the traditions of the name, the logo combines the runic alphabetic characters "H" which looks similar to an asterisk and a "B". Look carefully you can seen both represented in the logo.

Bluetooth Logo

Today Bluetooth is a technology that unites different types of electronic equipment from various manufacturers enabling them to communicate with each other without the use of wires.

In the mobile phone market Bluetooth wireless technology connects headsets to phones, giving the user a true hands-free experience and a greater sense of freedom.

Safe and secure
Bluetooth is safe. It utilises radio signals 1000 times weaker than the standard wireless technologies used by mobile phones. It is secure too, so once a connection has been made no-one can listen in and there is no interference from other Bluetooth devices either. It works over distances up to ten metres and connected units do not need to have line of sight.

Easy to use
Headsets are connected to phones using a procedure called ‘pairing’. By following a few simple steps, a phone can be paired with a headset in a matter of minutes.

For more information visit the official Bluetooth website.

 

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