Soon after the introduction of Bluetooth protocol, it became the standard for connecting various low-power devices such as headsets or computer mice together. Some of the advantages of this wireless protocol include low power usage and simple discovery of new peripherals.

Wi-Fi might be an alternative though. Ozmo Devices have developed a technology called Wi-Fi PAN (Personal Area Network) which not unlike Bluetooth works great with wireless low-power peripherals, not even requiring a dongle to connect with them - and, of course, it adds to the already existing Wi-Fi functionality.

The technology itself consists of a low power chip in the said peripheral (a headset, for example), and a software driver on the terminal (such as your PC). That’s all that is needed to connect the device to a Wi-Fi network. According to the press release, some manufacturers like Belkin are planning to integrate the technology in their new products.

While this does seem like a nice alternative, Bluetooth won’t go out without a fight. It is backed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) which includes big names like IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba and new versions of the protocol are planned, possibly providing up to 480 Mbit/s transfer speed while maintaining relatively low power usage.

Via: OzmoDevices