Motorola’s Dr. John Barr was the previous Chairman of the Board of the Bluetooth SIG, but effective immediately he has now been replaced by Nokia’s Ian Macnamara.
“For years, Ian and Nokia have been deeply involved in the development of Bluetooth technology. The Bluetooth SIG is especially pleased to have Ian in this position as we move to incorporate Wibree technology, first created by Nokia, as Bluetooth technology’s ultra low power solution,” said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG.
“This is an exciting time to be a part of the evolution of Bluetooth technology. The SIG and its thousands of member companies are constantly improving the technology, expanding into new markets and working to unite wireless technologies to meet every consumer need,” said Macnamara. “It’s an honor to be elected by the board to help guide the next year and plan for the next decade of Bluetooth technology.”
Bluetooth technology turned 10 years old in 2008 and has nearly two billion devices with the technology in the marketplace. Macnamara expects that number to continue to grow with new advances like ultra low power and high speed Bluetooth technology.
“Ultra low power Bluetooth technology opens up new markets for the popular global standard, like sports and fitness, a wider arena within healthcare and monitoring and sensor applications. At the other end of the spectrum, high speed Bluetooth technology will provide consumers with the ability to quickly and easily transfer huge amounts of data, like video and complete music libraries, wirelessly,” added Macnamara.