The NFC Forum and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group have signed an agreement to enable the two organizations to work more closely together via a formal liaison relationship.

The NFC Forum and the Bluetooth SIG have collaborated previously, most recently in the creation of a developers' guide entitled "Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing Using NFC," which was jointly published as an Application Document available to the public.

Under the new agreement, the two organizations will work together to update and maintain the Application Document to accommodate Bluetooth Smart products using the Low Energy feature of the Bluetooth specification. They may also evaluate the feasibility of incorporating NFC technology testing that utilizes Bluetooth technology into interoperability events hosted by both organizations.

The agreement also calls for the two organizations to evaluate opportunities to enhance interoperability and the user experience of devices that use their technologies.

NFC and Bluetooth are complementary wireless technologies that can be designed to work in concert in certain use cases. For example, manufacturers have the flexibility to use NFC technology in conjunction with Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing (SSP) by supporting both negotiated and static handover between Bluetooth devices, such as wireless headsets, personal health devices, smartphones, cars, and TVs.

"With 400 million NFC-enabled devices deployed in the market this year, and nearly one billion predicted by 2016, the time is opportune for the NFC Forum to build on its very productive working relationship with the Bluetooth SIG," said Paula Hunter, NFC Forum Executive Director.

(Credit: IVT)