The consortium behind the Bluetooth wireless standard announced today that Nokia is contributing a technology that promises to bring the wireless connections to devices that are too small for regular Bluetooth chips.

An agreement to use the Nokia technology as the basis for an ultra low-power Bluetooth standard should help to speed its use and acceptance - rather than be a competing technology, the Bluetooth SIG industry interest group said.

Because Wibree addresses devices with very low battery capacity and can be easily integrated with Bluetooth technology, it will round out Bluetooth technology's wireless Personal Area Networking (PAN) offering and strengthen the technology's ability to provide wireless connectivity for smaller devices.

Wibree's development started at the Nokia Research Center in 2001. Wibree was announced to a broader audience in October of 2006 and Nokia stated its intention to incorporate the technology and its current forum into an open, preferably existing industry forum to ensure Wibree's wide adoption.

The ultra low power extension will allow watches and toys, as well as sports & wellness, healthcare and entertainment devices to be easily added to one's personal area network. This opens a new range of mobile possibilities for end users.

The work of integrating the low power technology within the existing Bluetooth specification has begun and the first version of the specification is anticipated during first half of 2008.