Bluetooth low energy ready to roll

At the IMS Research's fourth Bluetooth conference, Nordic Semiconductor announced that as of last week, they started shipping samples of their single-mode Bluetooth low energy solution.

Research Director for IMS Research's Connectivity Group, Fiona Thomson states that this is what everyone has been waiting for since Wibree became ultra low power Bluetooth and ultra low power Bluetooth became Bluetooth low energy. Further, Broadcom, CSR, EM Microelectronics and TI have all made public announcements when it comes to Bluetooth low energy ICs.

Fiona Thomson contends that such competition is healthy in order for Bluetooth low energy IC ASPs (average selling prices) to drop to a point which is viable for OEMs to integrate it in volume.

Thomas Embla Bonnerud Ultra Low Power Wireless Product Manager for Nordic Semiconductor commented: "Our announcement is significant because it means that there are now companies out there that are finally able to start developing actual Bluetooth low energy products, right now, today."

Thomson contends that one should not underestimate the importance of a high ratio of single-mode to dual-mode Bluetooth low energy products. Reaching even 100 million single-mode devices will be a milestone and so the quicker chips are readily available the better.

For further information visit www.imsresearch.com.