Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Ratified, 'Touch-to-Connect' On the Way

Among the major draws at this year's CTIA Wireless show are a slew of devices outfitted with the new "touch-to-connect" pairing capability of Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate). The new standard's ratification was made official this morning.

The key feature of the 2.1 spec is its vastly improved pairing procedure, which is only very slightly more difficult than using a "keypass" to pay for gas at the pump. For instance, with a 2.1-endowed mobile phone, you can tell it to "Add Device," and then pass it close to the item you want to pair it with, such as a PC. (In company demos, the pairing range is within a few feet, though some Bluetooth representatives are using the term "tap" or "touch" to indicate that the pairing range in everyday practice should be much closer.)

The new "near-field communication" protocol takes over at this point, initiating the handshaking procedure automatically without you having to set up your phone manually beforehand to broadcast its availability.

The procedure could make certain tasks for which there is no time in the day, quite painless. For instance, consider a 2.1-endowed car stereo or satellite radio. When you already have your hands-free headset with you, you can simply touch it to the radio when you get into the car, then reattach it to your ear.

Gone is the requirement for users to key in a pin number; Bluetooth says near-field devices generate 16-character alphanumeric passcodes automatically, which they'll use like session keys in SSL. As an option, users can have the initiating device generate a six-digit secondary "passkey" that effectively locks the already-started session from outside influence. It will be interesting to see whether this is actually effective, and we may get our first clues later this week.

Perhaps just as importantly, Bluetooth 2.1 could drive down the cost of components in two key respects: First, the specification enables design implementations that are more flexible than before. For instance, last January, Atheros announced it has developed a Bluetooth radio-on-a-chip (RoC) similar to the system-on-a-chip (SoC) form factors used for WiFi and wireless broadband standards. Such a device would be PC-specific, meaning it's optimized for use in notebooks.

In so doing, notebook platform designers no longer have to adapt Bluetooth radios that were mass produced for handsets but repurposed for PCs. So the built-in flash memory that existing Bluetooth adapters carry with them in PC implementations, is no longer necessary. So in form factor and power consumption, costs could be greatly reduced.

Also in the power consumption department (which contributed to the form factor reduction), the new specification reportedly enables internal battery life for the smallest devices, especially headsets, to be extended by as much as five times.

Among the 2.1 devices making waves at CTIA are Plantronics' new Pulsar 590 Bluetooth Stereo Headset, which makes optimum use of touch-to-connect, and Nokia cellular phones with 2.1 radios built in. Attendees are discussing whether existing 2.0 devices can be upgraded via firmware, and the fact that their questions don't appear resolved as yet indicates that manufacturers may not have been prepared for them.