Director From Nordic Semiconductor Appointed New Chairman Of Bluetooth SIG Board

Ultra low power (ULP) RF specialist Nordic Semiconductor ASA recently announces that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has appointed Nordic's Director of Emerging Technologies and Strategic Partnerships, Svein-Egil Nielsen, as the new Chairman of the Bluetooth SIG Board of Directors.

Nordic Semiconductor first joined the Bluetooth SIG Board 18 months ago when Svein-Egil Nielsen was appointed an Associate Board Member to help drive Bluetooth wireless technology's expansion following the release of the most recent Bluetooth v4.0 specification in June 2010 that included Bluetooth low energy as a hallmark feature (see 'About Bluetooth low energy, Bluetooth Smart, and Bluetooth Smart Ready' below).

Bluetooth low energy was been designed from the outset to extend Bluetooth wireless connectivity to small, coin cell-powered ULP devices such as wireless sensors and tags (whose compatibility is guaranteed if marked as Bluetooth Smart devices) and is steadily expected to become a ubiquitous feature in almost all new smartphones, laptops, tablet computers, TVs, and games consoles (whose compatibility with Bluetooth Smart devices is guaranteed if marked as Bluetooth Smart Ready) over the next two to three years.

Nordic was at the forefront of the group that defined the Bluetooth low energy specification since becoming a founding member of Nokia's Wibree Alliance in 2006 (the Alliance became part of the Bluetooth SIG in June 2007). Nordic contributed decades of expertise - gained in producing successive generations of class-leading proprietary and interoperable ULP wireless connectivity solutions within a field it pioneered.

This has culminated in the release of Nordic's latest nRF51 Series of Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) that includes the nRF51822 Bluetooth low energy device. This series has re-defined the leading edge of the ULP wireless industry in terms of power consumption and performance, and comes with an exceptionally easy-to-use and versatile development platform based on Nordic SDKs (software development kits) and a powerful separation of protocol stack and application code.

"This is a very proud moment for both myself and Nordic Semiconductor," comments Svein-Egil Nielsen, Nordic's Director of Emerging Technologies and Strategic Partnerships and new Bluetooth SIG Board Chairman. "Bluetooth wireless technology is now positioned to become possibly the most ubiquitous wireless technology in history and a genuine vehicle for technological innovation across all product categories and classes including automotive, consumer electronics, health and wellness, industrial automation, mobile phone accessories, PC and computing peripherals, smart home devices, and sports & fitness.

Nielsen ends: "From high speed to ultra low power, Bluetooth wireless technology has the potential to make anything and everything wireless for the very first time, and my mission is to turn that potential into a reality."

About Bluetooth low energy, Bluetooth Smart, and Bluetooth Smart Ready

About nRF51 Series

About the Bluetooth SIG 

About Nordic Semiconductor ASA