Over a thousand years later Ericsson Mobile Communications came up with the idea of bringing mobile phones and all their accessories into one technology for the betterment of their customers and named it after the Norwegian king. In 1998 Nokia, IBM, Toshiba and Intel joined Ericsson in forming a special interest group to develop this technology, which would allow all electronic devices to communicate. The name Bluetooth stuck and the technological advances led the communications world to where it is today.

Today there is a blue tooth headset for cell phones, as well as a wireless blue tooth headset for listening to music and movies. Many blue tooth headsets are in use using the Voice over Internet Protocol, which when used with a computer, is like having a wireless telephone used through the computer.

Many mobile devices such as laptop computers, cell phones and telephones use blue tooth technology to communicate with other devices, all made possible by the research conducted by the early special interest group. The blue tooth headset is a direct result of its research and helped in other applications of the technology.

Advancements Improve Mobile Communications

The idea behind blue tooth technology was to allow various devices to communicate with each other over short distances. Initially there was no plan for long-range connectivity and the blue tooth headset was one of the first innovations to use blue tooth. It is now one of the leading short distance communication standards. A person wearing a blue tooth headset can answer their blue tooth-enabled cell phone without picking it up and they can walk around while talking without wires to tangle.

With infrared communications capabilities handheld personal data assistants can send information back and forth using direct line-of-sight, however the distance between them must be extremely short, typically about four or five inches. A blue tooth headset can operate usually up to 30 feet away from the transmitter.

Many of the blue tooth headsets used in conjunction with cell phones, by default, have only mono capabilities, keeping one ear free for what is going on around you. Stereo blue tooth headsets are available for when stereo capabilities is desirable.