The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has officially announced details of the Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR specification.
Improvements over Bluetooth 2.0:
– Much simplified pairing
– Improved battery life (according to the Bluetooth SIG, Bluetooth Specification Version 2.1 + EDR can increase battery life by up to five times.)
– Improved security, including eavesdropper protection
For ultraportables, the improved battery life will be a nice benefit. Keep in mind that this new standard is backwards compliant to Bluetooth 1.1. The Bluetooth SIG is claiming that the chips will be available immediately and that Bluetooth 2.1 devices will be rolling out by the end of the year.
– Press Release (Bluetooth.com)
– Full specification documents – Bluetooth.com
– Wikipedia entry on Bluetooth 2.1.
Source: jkOnTheRun