text: Etymology\nThe name Bluetooth is derived from the cognomen of a 10th century king of Denmark, Harald Bluetooth. According to the inventors of the Bluetooth technology, Harald engaged in diplomacy which led warring parties to negotiate with each other, making Bluetooth a fitting name for their technology, which allows different devices to talk to each other.\n\nBluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs), also known as IEEE 802.15.1.\nA wireless personal area network (WPAN) technology from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (www.bluetooth.com) founded in 1998 by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba. Bluetooth is an open standard for short-range transmission of digital voice and data that supports point-to-point and multipoint applications.\n\nBluetooth is a radio standard and communications protocol primarily designed for low power consumption, with a short range (power class dependent: 1 meter, 10 meters, 100 meters) based around low-cost transceiver microchips in each device.\nBluetooth provides up to 720 Kbps data transfer within a range of 10 meters and up to 100 meters with a power boost. Unlike IrDA, which requires that devices be aimed at each other (line of sight), Bluetooth uses omnidirectional radio waves that can transmit through walls and other non-metal barriers. Bluetooth transmits in the unlicensed 2.4GHz band and uses a frequency hopping spread spectrum technique that changes its signal 1600 times per second. If there is interference from other devices, the transmission does not stop, but its speed is downgraded.