15 METRES, JUST LIKE THE CURRENT, MUCH SLOWER BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY. 'WE DEFINITELY LOOKING FOR SAME TYPE OF RANGE ... ONE ROOM RANGE,' MICHAEL FOLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BLUETOOTH SIG, SAID IN A CONFERENCE CALL. BLUETOOTH SIG AND WIMEDIA ALLIANCE SAID THE BLUETOOTH SOLUTION WOULD USE UNLICENSED RADIO SPECTRUM ABOVE 6 GHZ. FOLEY SAID THAT THE DEVELOPMENT WORK WILL FOCUS ON KEEPING BLUETOOTH'S STRENGTHS, LIKE LOW POWER CONSUMPTION AND SECURITY FEATURES, IN THE NEW VERSION. IT WOULD ALSO BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE CURRENT BLUETOOTH FORMAT WHICH IS ALREADY INSTALLED IN MORE THAN 500 MILLION DEVICES. THE INSTALLED BASE OF BLUETOOTH DEVICES IS PROJECTED TO SURPASS ONE BILLION UNITS BY THE END OF 2006, HE SAID. THE ASSOCIATIONS SAID THEY EXPECT THE FIRST EXAMPLES OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY TO BE AVAILABLE FOR PROTOTYPING IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2007. THE FIRST DEVICES THAT WILL CONTAIN THE NEW BLUETOOTH ARE EXPECTED TO REACH CONSUMERS IN EARLY 2008.
