CES 2012: Motorola Best of Bluetooth

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) named the MOTOACTV by Motorola, technology that is able to power low-power devices over Bluetooth as the overall winner of the 2012 Bluetooth SIG Best of CES Awards at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Additionally, the Bluetooth SIG announced the following category winners:

· Ford SYNC AppLink (Now)

· VOXLAND BeeWi BBZ351 Helicopter (New)

· Siemens MiniTek automatic streamer for hearing aids (Next)

The Siemens MiniTek also took home the Best of CES Fan Favorite award after receiving the most votes from Bluetooth technology fans on the SIG’s social media channels.

‚In the fall of 2011, the Bluetooth SIG introduced two new brand extensions ‚ Bluetooth Smart Ready, for hub devices such as the Motorola Droid RAZR, iPhone 4S and tablets, and Bluetooth Smart, for low energy consuming sensor devices such as heart rate monitors and pedometers ‚ to better define the newest generation of Bluetooth enabled products for consumers,‚ said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG.

‚Our overall winner this year, the MOTOACTV, exemplifies exactly what this new generation of Bluetooth enabled products are about. The MOTOACTV can support low energy devices, like a heart rate monitor, while still having all the functionality Bluetooth technology is known for ‚ transferring data to your phone, streaming music through your wireless ear buds and keeping your hands free. The integration of workout data with a Bluetooth enabled application on the Droid RAZR completes the picture, making it simple for consumers to put data to practical use on hub devices like smart phones.‚

“The MOTOACTV was one of the first Bluetooth Smart devices to come to market, allowing users to enjoy a completely wireless workout and then to view workout history through a Bluetooth enabled app on their Droid RAZR smart phone,”” said Suke Jawanda, Bluetooth SIG CMO. “”From monitoring heart rate, to listening to music to receiving phone calls and text alerts on the MOTOACTV ‚ Bluetooth technology enables all these functionalities.‚

A record number of devices were submitted for consideration this year. Each product was carefully reviewed and judged based on a variety of criteria including innovation, interoperability testing, look and feel, and ease of use. Bonus points were awarded to those products that included Bluetooth v4.0. The overall, fan favourite and three category winners were selected out of a pool of ten finalists.

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