Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

Bluetooth is the codename of a wireless personal area network specification that is being developed by the Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group). Bluetooth will enable electronic devices to spontaneously set up wireless networks within small areas. Bluetooth is designed for notebooks, telephones, and other devices, including wireless headsets, handheld and wearable devices (such as inventory scanners), and data/voice access devices. It also provides peripheral connections for printers, PDAs, desktops, fax machines, keyboards, joysticks, and virtually any other digital device.

The Bluetooth SIG (special interest group) includes hundreds of leading technology companies that are determined to make this specification pervasive. Bluetooth SIG members refer to Bluetooth as third-generation mobile technology. Unlike second-generation devices, such as GSM phones, which are optimized for voice communication, third-generation technology smart phones and communicators are designed for digital content such as speech, pictures, and video. A typical Bluetooth phone will have two radios for example, one for the metropolitan cellular system and one for the Bluetooth personal area network.