Las Vegas, NV – January 7, 2014 – Last night, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the finalists of its annual Bluetooth Breakthrough Awards program. The program recognises the best Bluetooth enabled products and applications on the market today, as well as innovative prototypes of products coming soon. New this year, students from around the world are recognised for their potential contributions to the Bluetooth market.

 

“The sheer volume of creative ideas for using Bluetooth Smart to help us all get more out of life just astounds me,” said Suke Jawanda, CMO, Bluetooth SIG. “People ask me all the time ‘what’s the next killer app for Bluetooth.’ The truth is Bluetooth Smart quietly became the ‘killer enabler’ of many diverse uses for all sorts of different needs. This year’s finalists speak to a broad mix of health, fitness, retail, and consumer uses. They also speak to the market acceptance of Bluetooth Smart – the intelligent, low-energy technology enabling the Internet of Things (IoT).”

 

Bluetooth Smart is the ultra-low-power version of Bluetooth wireless that securely connects devices and applications. While the power-efficiency of Bluetooth Smart makes it perfect for devices running off a tiny battery for long periods, the magic of Bluetooth Smart is its ability to work with an application on the smartphone or tablet the consumer already owns. Bluetooth Smart makes it easy for developers and OEMs to create solutions that will work with the billions of Bluetooth enabled products already in the market today.

 

Added Jawanda: “The Internet of My Things is turning into the Internet of Everything right before our eyes. We’re seeing a shift from one-to-one devices and applications, to one-to-many, like the Polar Team app that moves fitness tracking from the individual to the team level, or even a retail beacon that sends info from one device to many shoppers. This shift is powered by Bluetooth Smart and we’ll continue to see it light up bigger remote monitoring and management scenarios in mobile health, smart home, commercial and industrial scenarios.”

 

Finalists by Category:

 

Breakthrough Products

• 94Fifty Smart Sensor Basketball (InfoMotion Sports Technologies): The 94Fifty® Smart Sensor Basketball is a first-in-class Bluetooth Smart fitness product that measures and diagnoses both the frequency and quality of key skills critical to building confidence, versatility, and success on the basketball court.
• Nonin Model 3230 Bluetooth® Smart Finger Pulse Oximeter (Nonin Medical Inc): The Nonin Model 3230 is the world’s first clinical Bluetooth Smart finger pulse oximeter that measures blood oxygen, pulse rate, and other pulse signal characteristics, and provides the information to help the patient, personal caregiver, and the medical professional.
• Swirl In-Store Mobile Marketing Platform (Swirl Networks): Swirl helps retailers leverage the power of mobile via Bluetooth Smart to transform the in-store shopping experience and increase retail store sales.
• Anki Drive (Anki): Anki Drive is a racing game you play on your living room floor. Unlike remote control or slot cars, Anki Drive cars are souped up with robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve levels of speed and precision on the track not otherwise possible. The cars are constantly sending and receiving commands from the iOS device, all using Bluetooth Smart.
• DISTO D810 touch (Leica-Geosystems AG): The Leica DISTO™ D810 touch is the first laser distance meter with a touch screen and the ability to take measurements with pictures. The high functionality is completed by the smart free app “Leica DISTO™ sketch,” which uses Bluetooth Smart to communicate.

 

Breakthrough Applications

• Polar Team app (Polar Electro Oy): With its Bluetooth Smart technology, excellent range of transmission that can cover even a large arena and user-friendly app design, Polar Team is a unique solution for indoor sports teams. Polar Team is the only solution with which you can track the performance, intensity, and heart rate of an entire team in real-time without a separate base station – all you need are the sensors and an iPad.
• Automatic (Automatic Labs): Automatic is an app that connects your car’s onboard computer and iPhone through a small hardware accessory, which plugs into your car’s data port (found in all cars sold in the USA since 1996). Your car and phone connect using the Bluetooth Smart Ready device whenever you drive, even if your phone never leaves your pocket.
• Mobilis framework (Mobili): Mobilis helps developers connect more than 50 different Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart and internal devices like sensors, buttons, cameras, smartwatches, actuators and is designed as single or multi sensor/user platform.

 

Breakthrough Prototypes

• Skulpt Aim (Skulpt): Aim™ is an innovative device for measuring body composition and analysing individual muscles. Any measurements taken will automatically sync, via Bluetooth Smart, to the personal online dashboard.
• H2O-Pal (Out of Galaxy, LLC): H2O-Pal monitors water intake and reminds the user to drink water when needed.
• Smart Plug (BeeWi): The BeeWi Smart Plug is a plug that you can control by smartphone. You can easily switch on/off your electric devices and program them from the app.
• The Nymi (Bionym): Bionym’s premier product, the Nymi, is a wristband that authenticates the identity of the wearer using their ECG (electrocardiogram). Once authenticated, the Nymi is able to communicate the wearer’s identity to nearby devices and systems using Bluetooth Smart.

 

Breakthrough Ideas (Students):

• Catherin Keithline, PianoPedal: A small, portable foot pedal that runs the sheet music on your tablet to the next page.
• Shiva Nathan, Arduino based Bluetooth Transhumeral Prosthesis: A low cost, brain-controlled interface (BCI) transhumeral prosthetic that fits onto amputees’ hands.
• Betty Quinn, Spectrum: A wearable device that tracks pulse and perspiration to give better insight into anxiety disorders, for patients and doctors.
• Temeka Gongs, Kool-Fridge: A sensor device that snaps onto storage container lids to monitor the chemicals released from foods to ensure food is still edible.
• Savannah Cofer, Bicycle SuperVision: An appcessory solution allowing bicyclists to have 360°awareness of his or her surroundings.

 

All finalists receive development kits from BBA gold sponsors CSR and Nordic Semiconductor and a sensor tag kit from gold sponsor Texas Instruments. The Bluetooth SIG’s expert-judging panel that includes industry players Robert Scoble, Ken Denmead, Victoria Woollaston, and Joel Kaczmarek, as well as sponsor judges David Bean, Frontline Test Equipment, and Mario Pasquali, Ellisys, will decide the winners.

 

Winners will be announced at the Pepcom media event on February 23 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. The Product, Application and Prototype category winners will be invited to attend Pepcom MobileFocus Global at MWC with the Bluetooth SIG to highlight their product to hundreds of international media. These category winners will also receive a trip to gold sponsor Nordic Semiconductor’s headquarters in Norway. The Student category winner will receive a cash prize of $5,000 USD.

 

Provided by platinum sponsors Ellisys and Frontline Test Equipment, the overall winner will also be awarded two round trip tickets to attend Bluetooth World 2014 in April, along with entry into the event and free exhibition space, valued at $12,500 USD.

 

About Bluetooth® Wireless Technology

Bluetooth wireless technology is the global wireless standard enabling simple, secure connectivity for an expanding range of devices and serves as the backbone of the connected world. Bluetooth Smart technology, through an updatable platform and low power consumption, creates new application opportunities for the mobile phone, consumer electronics, PC, automotive, health & fitness and smart home industries. With over two billion devices shipping annually, Bluetooth is the wireless technology of choice for developers, product manufacturers, and consumers worldwide. Backed by industry leading companies, the Bluetooth SIG empowers over 20,000 member companies to collaborate, innovate and guide Bluetooth wireless technology. For more information, please visit www.bluetooth.com.