Stay Tuned for Bluetooth on Your TV [GigaOm]
I'm sure many of you use Bluetooth technology daily on your cell phone, using a wireless earpiece to talk on the phone while driving. Bluetooth has been integrated into nearly every laptop computer on the market today, as well as many computer peripherals and even many car models. Now, Bluetooth technology is going into television sets. Yesterday, it was announced that a new line of LG television sets will be equipped with Bluetooth, following earlier releases from Sharp and Samsung.
Bluetooth televisions promise the ability to connect wireless headsets, stream content from a PC or mobile device to the television and allow users to control their TV with a Bluetooth device like a mobile phone. This article predicts that users would have access to specific user profiles on their television (like their favorite channels) simply by connecting to the television with their individual mobile phone. Each member of the family would have access to their own viewing profile simply by accessing the TV with their phone.
The ability to control a television with a mobile phone is an idea that is still very much in development. There are only a limited number of TV models that have Bluetooth, though I expect that number to continue to increase. And mobile phone applications to control televisions isn't available yet, but I'm sure some intrepid developers are already working on it.
Bluetooth isn't going to replace 802.11 wireless connections in next-generation televisions because high definition video requires a much faster and more robust connection. However, Bluetooth is a fraction of the cost of Wi-Fi and handles both audio and data transfers exceptionally well. I guess the day that mobile phone technology and televisions converge is likely not far off.
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