Unveiled the Facts on Bluetooth | | Resource Centre by Reliance Digital

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Before SHAREit, Whatsapp and other file transfer apps came into existence, you only had Bluetooth as the first and only way for sharing music and other media. Bluetooth as you know, is a simple way for cellphones, printers, PCs, digital cameras, and other gadgets to link together over relatively short distances using wireless (radio wave) technology. Here are some interesting facts on why this technology was introduced and from where did Bluetooth derive its name and beyond.

Way back in 1998 Ericson, Intel, Nokia, IBM and Toshiba realized that tomorrow customers would seek to interact and connect with multiple devices. Thus technology that aided cross device connectivity would be critical. With that in mind, they collaborated to form the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) established on 20^th May, 1998.

While deciding on the name, Jim (an engineer with Intel) suggested they name the technology after the 10^th century Danish king Harald Blatand’s (Blatand meant “Blue Tooth” in English) name as he was known for his efforts to unify previously warring tribes from Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

According to Jim, Harald acted as a connector in uniting Denmark, Norway and Sweden. He was so impressed and inspired by the king’s accomplishments that he thought it would be apt to name SIG as ‘Bluetooth’, since this technology would work as a mediator in unifying communication devices. Today, Bluetooth SIG has over 30,000 companies as its members globally.

You must have seen the blue and white logo of bluetooth every time you activated the bluetooth option. Interestingly, the logo represents the initials of the king’s name. If you are wondering why there is no trace of the King’s name in the logo – take a closer look at the logo that was designed with the initials of the king from the Old Danish runes* B and H.

Runes*- are the letters in a set of relatable alphabets used by Germanic people from about 3^rd century to 16th or 17^th century AD.

Image courtesy: Ancient Origins

Here’s another interesting fact about Bluetooth, did you know when you connect your phone with your laptop or smart TV they establish a master-slave relationship? The master or the main device is where you can connect seven connections or slaves all at one time. For example: if you transfer a file from your phone to your friend’s phone through bluetooth that’s when your phone is the master and the other is the slave. On the other hand, this master–slave relationship can be reversible as well.

Speaking of phones, the first mobile phone enabled with bluetooth technology came into existence in the year 2000. Also, Bluetooth is designed with backward compatibility – which means you can still send and receive files from your old phone to your new smartphone. Although today Wi-Fi is dominating the wireless technology space and there are thousands of apps available to transfer files, Bluetooth technology is still extensively preferred for its simple usage which is no longer just limited to mobile phones, PC’s and laptops but also, other consumer electronic devices such as; cars, health and fitness devices. While Wi-Fi needs the backing of a good high speed bandwidth, you would be amused to know that Bluetooth is sometimes better than Wi-Fi, as devices can easily communicate with each other even in noisy environments.

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