Windows Phone Thoughts: Bluetooth Audio Splinters

"Computer and consumer engineers are taking separate paths to delivering audio over Bluetooth, raising the possibility of incompatible wireless MP3 players, headsets and speakers. The split comes as Bluetooth gains traction in its core market of cellular handsets and as it marshals forces for a next-generation spec that could deliver megabit data rates along with multimedia."

I'm a fan of Bluetooth, but this is a problem. :| If you are wondering why the existing audio profiles aren't sufficient, it's because they can't handle 44KHz, 16-bit stereo uncompressed audio over the existing Bluetooth (723kbps) link. Uncompressed CD-quality audio needs 176kBps, or 1,408kbps of bandwidth, which clearly overwhelmes the theoretical maximum of existing BT implementations. Therefore, the solution is to either stream compressed audio, or expand the existing bandwidth. Both are rife with compatibility issues (choosing a compressed format and transport, for instance).

You'd think the Bluetooth SIG would put more energy into making sure that only one such compressed audio format is adopted, but of course, if the companies that comprise the SIG itself disagree, they're powerless to do anything. The article is hopeful that the SIG members will reconcile their differences so that there's one standard. Let's hope so -- it'll be better for everyone that way.