Bluetooth 2.2 spec could be released as early as mid-2009 (Updated)

According to CNET, it looks like Bluetooth 2.2 will see the light of day sometime in mid-2009. Designed to work in tandem with other wireless technologies already present in many devices, the spec will be referred to either as Bluetooth 10x (working in conjunction with WiFi) and Bluetooth 100x (working with UWB). Something like this should good news for manufacturers of PMPs and handsets, expanding the range of possibilities to include Bluetooth media streaming and much larger file transfers. On the other hand, perhaps the new spec will finally herald the age of the Bluetooth viruses the doomsayers have been hollerin' about. No matter what happens, it shouldn't be too long before we find out.

Update: Apparently, this was only according to CNET. According to SIG's PR: "We're... trying to find the source for this story as it is incorrect. We have made no such announcement recently and 2.2 was never intended as a name for the next spec." It looks like someone pulled this info out of thin air -- we'll keep you posted if we hear otherwise. Thanks, Eric!

[iEye @ Dec 4th 2008 11:01PM]

Ah, yes , the BT virus... Apple was wise not to include A2DP in the iPhone.
Apple's Foresight into the Future should e a testament to the product the make...

[oZone @ Dec 4th 2008 11:12PM]

How do Steve's balls taste?

[Fernando @ Dec 4th 2008 11:18PM]

GODDAMN YOU I CAN'T GET IN ONE COMMENT SECTION WITHOUT RAGING AT YOU

requesting ip ban please, engadget :(

[who? @ Dec 4th 2008 11:32PM]

Like an IP ban does anything? Every time you disconnect and reconnect the modem (at least at my house) it assigns a new IP! If they ban his account, he'll make a new one. If they ban his IP, he can get a new one. The technological age didn't prepare itself properly for the power of the fanboy.

[Edward @ Dec 5th 2008 5:27AM]

@iEye

What the hell are you on about, there is nothing more viral than someones opinion of themselves (I sense an iPhone smug alert in South Park coming on).

iEye, do you also own a Prius too.

At every other poster who get s up at this guy, I would like to shut him up too, but I believe in choice, and I chose to have a different phone, not that I dont like the iPhone, I just like something else better, one with open BT drivers.
Why do Americans always fight over every God Damn thing, I tell yeah, the rest of the World doesnt care what you guys do. Just use the phone, make and take calls, and shut the hell up about it.

Thats my flame for the year, good thing I got another year coming up to do another next year.

[Mike10010100 @ Dec 5th 2008 6:28AM]

Ah, yes , crashing into a wall at 70 miles per hour... Ford was wise not to include a powerful engine in their new car.
Ford's Foresight into the Future should e [sic] a testament to the product the make.

[Zach @ Dec 5th 2008 5:42PM]

It Sounded to me as if he may have been sarcastic.

(don't kill me)

[CraigJ @ Dec 4th 2008 11:13PM]

Hopefully they figured out how to boost performance without eating more battery...

[tk @ Dec 4th 2008 11:14PM]

Awesome, maybe now that's 2.2 is coming out manufactures will finally adopt 2.1. While this "SHOULD be good news to manufacturers", there seems to be about year+ lag between when a new spec gets released and when companies actually start implementing it. A majority of companies are using 2.0 (4 years old), some are still using 1.2 (6 years old) and finally, recently some companies have pick up on 2.1 (1 year old).

So I look forward to seeing 2.2 products in mid 2010

[who? @ Dec 4th 2008 11:34PM]

People still use bluetooth? Say wha...? I thought that battery draining technology died out with the wireless 'b' networks...

[holycow @ Dec 4th 2008 11:46PM]

How else do people use handsfree?
How else do people share files from one cell phone (other than the iPhone) to another without a computer?

[who? @ Dec 5th 2008 12:11AM]

1. I have hands.
2. I don't share.

[Chris Are @ Dec 5th 2008 12:34AM]

Your first comment was really ignorant, but your second comment was pretty clever.

Bluetooth is here to stay. I don't see why it couldn't "replace" USB 3.0.

[Soulsaber @ Dec 5th 2008 12:36AM]

It's okay not to have friends.

[holycow @ Dec 5th 2008 12:54AM]

In cities where using handsfree is the only option while driving (is against the law) even if you have hands you still need to use it. Now don't come and say that you are not in one of those cities... i know you aren't!
And in the first comment you say people, in the second you say I. Hence You == People? "Say wha... ?"

[who? @ Dec 5th 2008 1:55AM]

@holycow

My response to you = your name for two main reasons (again):

1. You are insane.
2. I count four grammatical errors in your post.

[Edward @ Dec 5th 2008 5:33AM]

@Holy Stupid Cow

Glass Houses Buddy Boy

My response to you = your name for two main reasons (again):

Should read.... My response to you is directed at your name for two reasons: There is not an again, '=' is not a word and you only provided two reasons so 'main' is redundant.

1. You are insane.

Should read 1. HolyCow was born an idiot

2. I count four grammatical errors in your post.

Should read 2. I (being HolyCow) have too much time on my hands...

Hey, I am getting good at this....

[Edward @ Dec 5th 2008 5:36AM]

Ooops Really Sorry, my post should have started @Black Friday, and continued in the same vain, please insert BlackFriday at Holy Cow references...

My Mistake, reading these comments at night gets my blood warm, and it's bloody hot here tonight.

[Edward @ Dec 5th 2008 5:41AM]

Or Who or whatever, he's an idiot, and I am hot and tired

[Hung @ Dec 4th 2008 11:57PM]

there is a typo, but this sounds like a great way for massive file transfers, think of the share parties that could be.

[matt merritt @ Dec 5th 2008 12:05AM]

Well you see... I don't mean to stab people in the neck, but I do it anyway.

[who? @ Dec 5th 2008 12:13AM]

and I don't mean to reply to you...

[Erik @ Dec 5th 2008 1:09AM]

You're doing it wrong.

[Surur @ Dec 5th 2008 2:48AM]

There is already bluetooth viruses on the Symbian platform.

F-Secure Malware Information Pages: Cabir

[Summary] | [Disinfection] | [Detailed Description]

Name : Cabir
Alias: Caribe, Worm.Symbian.Cabir.a, SymbOS/Cabir.A, EPOC/Cabir.A
Type: Bluetooth-Worm
Category: Malware
Platform: SymbOS
Radar

Summary
Cabir is a Bluetooth-worm that runs on Symbian mobile phones that support the Series 60 platform.

The details below describe the Cabir.A variant.
http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/cabir.shtml

Of course they have increased security since them, but this thing spread in the wild for quite a long time.

[Fernando @ Dec 5th 2008 3:17AM]

Old ass S60v2 that is obsolete and out of the market for years, and it wasn't a virus as it required user confirmation to install itself.

Take your FUD and go home.

[Surur @ Dec 5th 2008 5:37AM]

You are a bit touchy, arnt you.

I simply stated the fact that Bluetooth viruses already exist, that they were in the wild on the Symbian platform, provided an authoritative link, and said that security has since improved.

Do you have the problem with the facts?

BTW, I did not say Cabir was a worm. People had to install the Anna Kournikova virus also.

Why dont YOU go home instead.

[Labrador @ Dec 5th 2008 4:26AM]

So basically BlueTooth merges with WiFi? Just one radio needed for LAN and wireless peripherals. Of course laptops and devices will have to include a BlueTooth 1.1 radio for backwards compatibility for at least several more years.

According to Ars Technica UWB is basically dead, so I don't expect 100x to happen. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081102-ultrawideband-another-one-bites-the-dust.html

[breaklaw @ Dec 5th 2008 5:45AM]

Sounds like murder for your battery life. Anyone here run there phone with Bluetooth AND WiFi enabled? You can't make it through the day without at least one recharge.