Wibree vs. Bluetooth

During October 2006, several tech companies, mainly Nokia, have announced that they will be launching new wireless networking technology called Wibree. However, Wibree will not be related to current Wi-Fi technologies, due to the fact that it will not have the range and bandwidth that Wi-Fi has. Instead, Wibree capacities will be more comparable to Bluetooth, with a range of approximately 30 feet (10m) and similar bandwidth as Bluetooth (1Mbps).

The advantage of Wibree over Bluetooth is that it is a lot more power efficient, which makes it ideal for use in smaller and less costly devices than the ones currently using Bluetooth. The immediate uses once the standard is approved is to connect peripherals, like keyboards, to computers, but its lows cost may make it applicable to smaller devices such as toys, wrist watches, or sports gear.

The main features of Wibree are:

- Ultra low power consumption
- Ultra low cost
- Reduced size for human interface devices (HID)
- Global interoperability

Additionally, Wibree can be implemented in both a stand-alone chip or dual-mode chip that can include both Bluetooth and Wibree.

Companies are now submitting Wibree through a standardization process in order to obtain wider acceptance and, once completed, hopefully schedule to launch it sometime in 2007.  Alex Martin has a Masters Degree in Information Systems Management and is a consultant for several major Telecom companies worldwide. He is also the administrator of http://www.techtelecoms.com which highlights telephony and internet access news, services, and products.