You've got to give credit to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) in doing their best to keep themselves in the limelight and not have their technology shunted off to the side. The SIG announced that it intends to work closely with other wireless technologies, including WiFi, Near Field Communication (NFC), and Ultra Wideband (UWB) in order to "identify synergies."

In other words folks, the SIG is doing everything possible to get their member companies to link up with other wireless manufacturers so that Bluetooth doesn't grow "stale" and become obsolete in a few years.

According to the SIG, here is where they think Bluetooth can parther with the aforementioned wireless technologies:

• For WiFi, the potential for collaboration would include home gateways and media centers.

• For NFC, a possible collaboration may involve device pairing, such as the identification process between two Bluetooth-enabled products when they first connect.

• For UWB, it would involve usage scenarios requiring higher data throughput. Remember that supporters of UWB and the SIG announced their intentions to work together earlier this year, and the SIG has its UWB Market Requirement Document completed with resulting spec expected to be introduced in 2007.

It's a smart move by the SIG. 2004 was a huge year for Bluetooth, and it's become so ubiquitous that virtually every new mobile phone has it embedded within it. There's nothing wrong in looking for new ways to get Bluetooth into the forefront. Whether there will be compatibility between these various wireless technologies remains to be seen.