iTechSpeak :::...

The "Wi" in Wibree stands for wireless, while Bree is a reference to a city in the epic fantasy series "The Lord of the Rings." Go figure . . . click here for Wikipedia's Wibree history and technical details.

Nokia developed Wibree back in 2001. Today there appears to be an update as news periodicals stir up the buzz.

In AMNY, Peter Svensson's article "Bluetooth Links Up With Rival Technology" provides a few simple incites. . . . "The technology, called Wibree, opens up the possibility of a host of small wearable gadgets, like watches, heart rate monitors, pedometers and pill boxes that communicate with Bluetooth-equipped cell phones or computers. A watch could display the user's incoming text messages, for instance, or an action figure toy could sense the presence of other toys." Read more . . .

DotGizmo states "Wibree and Bluetooth play nice Mathematically speaking, Nokia's Wibree technology is now a subset of the Bluetooth realm." Read more . . .


John Blau reports in Infoworld with his article "Nokia's Wibree joins Bluetooth": Ultra low-power technology to connect button-cell battery power devices to users

"In October 2006, Nokia's research arm announced the development of Wibree and establishment of an industry forum, including Broadcom Corp. and STMicroelectronics NV, to define a specification.

But after forming, the companies -- many of them members of Bluetooth SIG -- favored having ultra low-power devices supported in Bluetooth, according to Harri Tulimaa, head of Nokia Technology Out-Licensing. "They didn't want to complete an entirely new technology," he said. " Read more . . .

Reuters reported today: "HELSINKI, June 12 (Reuters) - Mobile handset firm Nokia's (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile , Research) ultra-low-power short-range wireless technology is to be developed as a new version of Bluetooth to connect devices such as watches and heart monitors, the company said on Tuesday.

Nokia's agreement to offer the technology as the basis for an ultra-low-power Bluetooth standard should help to speed its adoption and encourage acceptance -- rather than be a competing technology, the Bluetooth industry interest group said." Read more . . .

As reported by Kamika Dunlap on Red Herring, Eye-Fi securing $5.5Million in funding is now positioned for the roll out of it wireless technology that automatically uploads photos from digital cameras.

Michael Kanellos, Editor at Large for CNet News.com , reports in today's New York Times . . .

In the fall, start-up Eye-Fi plans to release Secure Digital memory cards with integrated Wi-Fi chips. With the card, digital cameras will be able to automatically send photos to home PCs or to photo-sharing Web sites.

The company is negotiating with about a dozen Web sites to allow direct uploads from cameras containing the cards, Eye-Fi founder and CEO Yuval Koren said.

The card is set to cost about $100. Although he did not clarify their memory capacity, he strongly indicated that they would hold about 2 gigabytes. Many current cameras won't easily accommodate larger cards, which have a slightly different format, he said. After 2GB, people should be downloading anyway, he added.