Bluetooth SIG Announces Finalists for Best of CES Awards

KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) today announced ten finalists for its 6^th Annual Best of CES 2011 Awards. The program, developed to highlight the most innovative Bluetooth enabled devices of the year, will announce category winners and an overall winner at the Tweet House It Won’t Stay in Vegas party the evening of Friday, Jan. 7, during the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

“Bluetooth technology is the most widely installed short-range wireless technology, and because of that, the Bluetooth SIG Best of CES Awards program is reviewing products from every hot CE category”

The SIG’s Best of CES Awards program is divided into three categories: Now, New, and Next. These categories focus on Bluetooth products available on the market now, such as mobile phones, tablets and automobiles, products new to the Bluetooth family, like televisions and stereo audio systems, and finally, products and prototypes that will become prevalent in the coming year, proximity and healthcare monitoring devices.

Finalists of the 6^th Annual Best of CES Awards are:

NOW:

NEW:

Vizio 65” Class Theatre 3D™ Edge Lit Razor LED™ LCD HDTV
Samsung product (to be announced at CES)
iGrill
Zii Sound T6

“Bluetooth technology is the most widely installed short-range wireless technology, and because of that, the Bluetooth SIG Best of CES Awards program is reviewing products from every hot CE category,” said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “With over three billion Bluetooth enabled devices available worldwide, we expect to see the permeation of Bluetooth technology increase in the coming years. Product designers, and consumers alike, are going to want to connect all of their devices – and Bluetooth technology is the proven, successful, secure way to do just that.”

A record number of devices were submitted for consideration this year from all three levels of Bluetooth SIG membership. Each product was carefully reviewed and judged by the Bluetooth SIG based on a variety of criteria including interoperability testing, containing expected profiles, and ease of use. Bonus points were awarded to those products that included Experience Icons on the product packaging or the product website, and also for products utilizing the newly adopted Bluetooth v4.0 specification.

About Bluetooth® Wireless Technology

Bluetooth wireless technology is the global short-range wireless standard for personal connectivity of a broad range of electronic devices. The technology continues to evolve, building on its inherent strengths – small-form factor radio, low power, low cost, built-in security, robustness, ease-of-use, and ad hoc networking abilities. This evolution now provides manufacturers and consumers with three options for connecting wirelessly – Classic Bluetooth technology for use in a wide range of consumer electronics; Bluetooth high speed technology for the transfer of video, music and photos between phones, cameras, camcorders, PCs and TVs; and Bluetooth low energy technology for low power sensor devices and new web services within the healthcare, fitness, security, home entertainment, automotive and automation industries. More than eight new Bluetooth enabled products are qualified every working day and more than 19 million Bluetooth units are shipping per week. There are nearly three billion Bluetooth devices in the marketplace and that number climbs daily, making it the only proven wireless choice for developers, product manufacturers, and consumers worldwide.

About the Bluetooth SIG

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), comprised of leaders in the telecommunications, computing, consumer electronics, automotive and network industries, is driving development of Bluetooth wireless technology and bringing it to market. The Bluetooth SIG includes Promoter member companies Ericsson, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia and Toshiba, along with over 13,000 Associate and Adopter member companies. The Bluetooth SIG, Inc. headquarters are located in Kirkland, Washington, U.S.A. For more information please visit www.bluetooth.com.

The Bluetooth word mark and logo are registered trademarks and are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc.

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