The dark and unique backstory of Bluetooth
In today’s world, there’s hardly anyone who doesn’t own a smart device, be it a smartphone, a laptop a, a smartwatch, or headphone. And if you are an avid user of any one or more of these new-age devices, you have used Bluetooth for sure. We pair one device with another using this very technology. Bluetooth is a wireless personal area network that is a variation of spread-spectrum radio technology. For those unaware, spread spectrum radio is a way of telecommunications and radio communications by which a signal produced with a specific bandwidth is deliberately spread in order to widen its bandwidth and reach.
But have you ever wondered how this technology that keeps all your devices linked at once came into being? Well, the backstory of Bluetooth is quite dark. Here’s a peep into the world of Bluetooth.
An actress laid the foundation for Bluetooth
Yes, you read it right. We are talking Hedy Lamarr, an actress of Austrian origin, who played leading roles in celebrated Hollywood movies such as Boom Town, Ziegfeld Girl and Samson and Delilah. She was even promoted as “the world’s most beautiful woman.”
But Lamarr was an ambitious woman and wasn’t happy working in the entertainment industry only. So, she started testing different waters. From trying her hand at making reusable stoplights to making her own version of fizzy instant drinks, she did it all. However, it was her association with composer George Antheil that changed her life. Together, the duo worked on devising an innovative guidance system meant for torpedoes. After a lot of trial and errors, finally, the duo landed up with a couple of player piano rolls (a music storage medium used to operate player piano, usually made from paper) and generated radio frequencies that could easily block the enemy before they could jam the signals in torpedoes. Long story short, this eventually became the spread-spectrum radio technology and was deployed in enemy submarines and US military aircrafts. This led the foundation for Bluetooth in the 20th century.
Bluetooth was born!
In 1989, the Swedish telecommunications major Ericsson was planning to launch a set of wireless headsets for the European market. Even though the prototype was ready, they were still unsure how it would operate. This is when the chief technology officer of Ericsson Mobile Nils Rydbeck joined hands with physician John Ullman, and sound engineers Jaap Haartsen and Sven Mattisson to pioneer a “short-link” radio technology that could transmit signals between their upcoming wireless headset and personal computers. But the team soon realised that the spread-spectrum radio technology of Antheil and Lamarr already did what they were looking for. All they needed to do was make some upgrades here and there, such as changing the frequencies and enhancing the bandwidths. Guess what? Within a couple of months, Bluetooth was born, a lot earlier than presumed. In 2012, Haartsen and team even went on to win the European Inventor Award for their invention. Till date, Bluetooth technology continues to rule as it can pair up to eight devices simultaneously.
The name Bluetooth has a Danish-Norwegian origin
That’s right. Although Bluetooth was a Swedish invention, its name is an anglicised translation of King Harald Gormsson nickname Blatand, where bla means blue and tand means tooth. The name was adopted because Bluetooth technology united computers, mobile devices and headsets, the same way King Harald had united Denmark and Norway in the 10th century. In fact, the logo of Bluetooth is a Viking inscription called “bind rune” that merges the king’s initials.