ON Semiconductor Joins Bluetooth 1.2 SIG

Anyone out there using a Bluetooth-enabled device raise your hand. Ahh, just as I thought, not a heck of a lot of hands going up. Even if your PDA or cell phone is enabled for Bluetooth, I'm guessing that you don't use it (yet). The promise of technological benefits always seems to exceed the actual benefits of technology. Call me cynical if you like, but the hype always seems to exceed the promise (WAP phones, for example). I'm not putting down folks who really work toward innovation. Wireless connectivity is a good thing. It's just kind of elusive. What we need is wireless technology that works. Maybe Bluetooth Version 1.2 is that critter, but we probably won't see much of it unless it becomes a "standard." ON Semiconductor hopes that it will be pushing us toward a wireless future by joining the Bluetooth SIG as an early adopter of version 1.2. ON makes Power Management Units for the devices and just received a Bluetooth license covering royalty-free intellectual-property and patent rights. The Bluetooth standard sets out to define how mobile phones, computers, and PDAs intercommunicate using short-range wireless connections. When it works, you can use it to sync your PDA with your computer or fire your buddy your share of the price of dinner (if you're not embarrassed to break out the PDA or cell phone at the dinner table). ON's PMUs set out to save space in Bluetooth systems. A typical product based on PMU technology has a Low-Dropout (LDO) regulator, reset circuitry, DC/DC conversion, battery management and control logic. If you're interested in how Bluetooth tech is developing Planet EE has an article called "New FCC Ruling Will Have a Positive Affect on Bluetooth." We'd give you a link to the actual article, but it's one of those sites that doesn't show a unique URL for each page.