Once again, the mysterious Bluetooth SIG has left us with more questions than answers. Yes, okay, so there's an HTC "QUAR100" that we have to worry about now, but what is it? Given the gem theme they've set up for themselves, odds are the "QUAR" stands for "Quartz" -- though our comprehensive set of Scrabble tools reminds us that it could also be "Quart," "Quarterback," or "Quarterfinalist," among many others -- and we can at least glean that it's a phone (as opposed to, say, a standalone PDA) with WiFi. The most intriguing thing we've got going here might be the mention of North America as the one and only region for planned availability, an unusual move more frequently reserved for HTC's CDMA devices than anything else. Any educated (or not-so-educated guesses) out there?

[Via Cellpassion]

Read - WiFi certification
Read - Bluetooth SIG certification

There's a "Motorola Q11" chilling in the Bluetooth SIG's product directory, and while the SIG is famously tight-lipped about revealing gory details about its members' unreleased wares, we see that it's a "Phone, Handheld" running Windows Mobile 6.1 Smartphone. Then again, given the name and the Q series' storied history, we probably could've gathered that -- and we can probably also count on it having something to do with that Alexander we saw not long ago. Only question is, is the Alexander really two whole numbers in the integer line better than the Q9? Time'll tell.

[Via Cellpassion]

So when the Bluetooth SIG leaks a new handset, it's a leak of epically tiny proportions. Instead of the wealth of test reports we have the distinct pleasure of poring over when we get a juicy device via the FCC, the good ol' SIG gives us a single table of mostly meaningless information -- and that's in a best-case scenario. The worst case is where we get a model name or codename, geographic availability, and manufacturer name, and that's it. Such is the case with the HTC Rose, a phone we've never heard of before, and for all we know, may never hear about again. Our wild imaginations can easily concoct amazing Android-powered superphones with WVGA displays, 8-megapixel autofocus cameras, and 32GB of ROM until the cows come home, but this could just as easily be an EDGE-only Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard sleeper with all the design inspiration of an '82 Ford Escort. Or, you know, more likely something in between.

[Via Cellpassion]

Don't expect the tight-lipped boys and girls at the Bluetooth SIG to tell you much, but HTC's brewing up something -- and that something has Bluetooth. Not the most informative bit of data, we know, but there's not a lot to go on from browsing the SIG's approval of the new device. HTC's internal model numbers typically start with the first four letters of the handset's codename, so start thinking of words that start with "CONV" -- bonus points for coming up with things tied to Greek mythology -- and let us know what you've got.

[Via the::unwired]

If you'll recall, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group already had plans laid out to speed up Bluetooth by teaming it up with UWB, but needless to say, that didn't exactly take the world by storm. Thankfully, it seems the crew is trying something else in an effort to speed up BT transfers, and judging by the ubiquity of WiFi, we reckon this endeavor has a much better chance at gaining traction. According to Michael Foley, director of the Bluetooth SIG, these so-called Bluetooth-WiFi (just a temporary name, folks) devices will "use the regular low-power Bluetooth radios to recognize each other and establish connections, and if they need to transfer a large file, they will be able to turn on their WiFi radios, then turn them off to save power after finishing the transfer." For whatever reason, Foley also noted that it wouldn't be letting the dream go with regard to Bluetooth-UWB -- we're sure consumers will adore the confusion.

Everyone raise your glasses for a toast, will you? The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (better known as the Bluetooth SIG to its pals) is throwing itself a little party celebrating ten years since its inception. It's been one heck of a decade, too, considering that the SIG started with just five members and has since grown to over 10,000; in that same span, wireless headsets have become all but ubiquitous, the standard has come to countless products covering hundreds of product categories, and a grand total of 1.5 billion-plus devices have shipped with that now-famous stylized "B" emblazoned somewhere on their shell. So just how does a special interest group shake its moneymaker on such a momentous occasion? A spat of playful Bluejacking, perhaps? Nah, nothing that saucy -- just a private party for SIG members at CES. Here's to another ten, Bluetooth.

Remember that NEON100 we spied via the FCC's loose lips a few weeks back? Turns out there's at least one more version of the Touch variant being prepped -- but this time, the info comes from another famously leaky source, the Bluetooth SIG. Details are extraordinarily slim here since we don't even have the benefit of an RF test report, but we do know that it'll support Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (seeing how this is the Bluetooth SIG's database and all). In a perfect world, this sucker would turn out to be a Touch with triband HSDPA, but odds are, we really won't know until HTC is good'n ready for us to know.

[Via the::unwired]

We've no idea what this is, but pretty much any new codeword out of HTC is big news. Seriously, isn't it kinda fun to find out what wacky name they're going to come up with for the next device? Anyway, the Bluetooth SIG -- which is kinda like the FCC for leakage, but typically with even less information since Bluetooth is all those folks really care about -- has thrown up a little splash of info for an HTC "Kii." We know it's a smartphone (as opposed to, say, a UMPC) and it rocks out with Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, but beyond that, your guess is as good as ours. Can't you just feel the anticipation in the air?

[Via the::unwired]

Sometimes, just sometimes sanity prevails. Remember Wibree, Nokia's proposed Bluetooth-like (but not Bluetooth) solution for short-range wireless cable replacement in low-powered devices? Well, as of this morning, Wibree, and its 10x lower power consumption (but shorter range) will become part of the Bluetooth specification for ultra low power wireless devices. Once the spec is integrated, products like watches, toys, and even healthcare devices (er, pacemakers?) can join your Bluetooth Personal Area Network. You know, after the spec if finalized during the "first half of 2008" which will undoubtedly extend to Q3 of 2008 and then Q... ah hell, you know how it goes.

The Bluetooth SIG used CTIA this week as its stage to officially unveil its 2.1 + EDR standard, offering a number of improvements that should reduce the frustration factor commonly associated with device pairing while simultaneously kicking security up a notch. It'll be fully backward compatible (whew) while kicking in a few goodies for new devices that manage to support it; besides the aforementioned security gains, power consumption should be lower and pairing is almost totally automatic (in fact, for devices taking advantage of the new NFC support, it's as simple as touching them together). Look for the standard to become available to interested manufacturers "soon," which means we'll see devices in the pipeline in the late 2011 to early 2012 time frame. We kid, we kid!

[Via PhoneMag]