Nokia Wibree - Other Uses

Illustrations that the Nokia Research center is using for some unique uses of the Wibree include a sensor that records heart rate, sending the recording to a device (probably a Nokia phone) on an athlete's body so that the athlete can listen in on differing heart rates at different stages of his or her work out. Also an accelerometer can be attached to a jogger's foot, so that the performance can be recorded on a mobile device and later evaluated. The sensor will be a Wibree enabled device, of course.

The Nokia Wibree technology will probably find a lot of uses in the area of health care, since it could be a low powered alternative. Health care specialists will use it to monitor (remotely) a patient's condition, and will also use it to record their vital signs (pulse, heart rate, breathing). In an interesting scenario, you could have medical data collected by the users and then sent to their doctors through the phone as a multimedia message. Currently doctors use RFID (radio frequency identification) which is, you guessed right, a wireless standard.

So apart from the cool factor (you nattering away on your hands free) and the  geek factor (your PC has wireless LAN, infrared, BT and now Wibree), you actually have physical and health factors. Also there are possibilities of using it to enable devices such as light switches, so that Wibree could be used as a short range remote control for these and other devices.

Ehhh, What's a Wibree?

Well, for now, Nokia has not bothered to break down how they came about the name Wibree (I believe one individual fellow just thought it up), although some have started linking it (in humor I suspect) with the Nintendo Wii, and one particular blogger calling the new Nintendo controller a Wiibee.

What Else is Nokia up to?

Nokia inked a deal with Trimble Navigation to exclusively use and sub license their wireless consumer products. Another deal with Alcatel hooks their E-series smart phone system with Alcatel's IP network. The trend is towards the mobile phone becoming one cog in the Internet protocol wheel. The benefits of 3G (Tri band) will be unleashed at relatively cheaper prices than could ever be believed before.