What is Bluetooth technology? How does it work?
Bluetooth is a telecommunications industry specification that describes a wireless technology that allows mobile phones, PDA’s, hand-held computers and other devices in a personal area network to connect to each other without the use of wires or cables.

Who invented Bluetooth technology?
The technology was invented by the Swedish mobile phone company Ericsson and was conceived of as a way to eliminate cables connecting a phone with a headset or other device. It has grown to include personal area networks, proximity marketing, security and ticketing solutions.

What is the SIG?
Other than Ericsson, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group includes IBM, Intel, Nokia, Toshiba, 3Com, Lucent, Motorola, Compaq and many others. Why is it called Bluetooth? The technology gets its name from the 10th century Viking King Harald “Bluetooth”, who united the warring Scandinavian nations.

How do Bluetooth enabled devices work?
Each Bluetooth device is equipped with a wireless transceiver that transmits and receives in the globally available unlicensed frequency band of 2.45 GHz. Connections can be made from one point to another, or to several points. In the current generation of Bluetooth devices, data can be exchanged at a rate of 2. 1 Mbps, with a maximum range of 100m.
A frequency hop scheme allows devices to communicate with one another even in areas with a great deal of electromagnetic interference.

Would Bluetooth devices interfere with other systems?
Bluetooth devices are unlikely to interfere with other systems because the technology involves sending out weak signals and spread-spectrum frequency hopping. A Bluetooth device uses 79 individual randomly chosen frequencies within a designated range or area, changing from one to another on a regular basis. This minimises the risk of interference since any interference on a particular frequency will last only a tiny fraction of a second. Moreover the technique is based on the assumption that not all Bluetooth devices would be on the same frequency at a given point in time.

How secure is Bluetooth?
Built-in encryption and verification is provided. With the current performance enhancements, the devices that communicate with each other routinely can retain key information. There are also degrees of security that can be chosen at the application level, and application developers can decide whether to have additional protecting layers that the user can control. It should be understood that the possibility of any two random devices coming into proximity with each other does not mean that they will immediately begin to communicate with each other.