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Bluetooth 3.0: On its way to a Samsung near you

The first handset with Bluetooth 3.0 on board has been revealed as the Samsung GT-S8500. The super-speed certification which was approved by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (the Smurf council of wireless data transfer) has been in the pipeline since April 2009, but Samsung appears to have nabbed the glory of having the very first consumer handset with 3.0 onboard.

So what will this mean for Bluetooth? Well, it’ll be faster than a greased weasel, so you’ll be able to send large video and music files as well as photos between Bluetooth devices in the blink of an eye. “Like Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights, this latest version was ‘born to go fast’,” Michael Foley, the executive director of the Bluetooth SIG said back in April last year. The high speed will allow you to send video files from your camera to your computer or TV and bulk-synch your music libraries without needing any pesky wires. In addition to speed, Bluetooth 3.0 is also set to be more power-efficient than older specifications.

Details on the Samsung handset itself are relatively scarce, with everything we know coming from the Bluetooth SIG’s qualified design listing details sheet. The S8500 will have a 3.1-inch OLED touch screen which will be both anti-reflective and high-res. The handset will also come in a range of colours to complement its compact and slim design. No official word on when we’ll see the S8500 in the flesh, but with Mobile World Congress just around the corner we’re putting two and two together and hoping for a Barcelona reveal later this month.

[Image from YtseJam Photography on flickr]

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