Brainboxes, specialists in Bluetooth and serial technologies, today announced that the company is updating its Bluetooth hardware to be compliant with the latest version of the Bluetooth specification (v1.2). Brainboxes is now using v1.2 firmware from leading Bluetooth silicon vendor CSR. The move to v1.2 will give Brainboxes all of the advantages of the improved Bluetooth specification whilst retaining full backwards compatibility with existing Bluetooth equipment. Brainboxes’ range of v1.2 hardware is on display at WiCon 2004 in Amsterdam from 8th June. In bringing v1.2 support to its hardware, Brainboxes is also making it possible for software developers to use Brainboxes hardware for their software development.

With the introduction of v1.2 firmware Brainboxes’ hardware will deliver the advantages of fast connect and AFH (adaptive frequency hopping, helps reduce interference with other 2.4GHz radios). By selecting CSR’s BlueCore firmware, Brainboxes, and developers using Brainboxes Bluetooth hardware, will also be able to implement some of the optional v1.2 features such as eSCO (extended synchronous connectionless oriented – an enhancement for Bluetooth voice connections) and scatternet support (connecting together numerous smaller networks, called piconets, to allow up to 256 devices to interconnect).

Brainboxes manufactures a full range of Bluetooth adapters, converters and embedded modules to cover all of the common PC interfaces such as PCMCIA, CF Card, RS232 and USB. The company’s Bluetooth hardware has always been based on CSR BlueCore – the single-chip Bluetooth solution found in 60 percent of the end-products and module designs on the market. CSR and Brainboxes have a long history of cooperation on the advancement of Bluetooth wireless technology and Brainboxes is now a partner in CSR’s partner program – a network of third parties working with CSR to provide real-time advantages to Bluetooth customers around the world.

“CSR was at the heart of the very first v1.2 qualified products and customers are already adopting our v1.2 BlueCore devices and firmware, commented Clive Chelsom-Pill, Commercial Manager of CSR. “Products from credible suppliers such as Brainboxes, will speed up the uptake of the new standard and the benefits it brings the user.”

Eamonn Walsh, managing director of Brainboxes, added, “We have had a lot of success with our full range of Brainboxes Bluetooth adapters – especially with the work we have been doing to bring customised wireless solutions to our customers’ industrial applications.” Walsh continued, “CSR’s firmware is the most tried and tested. We are confident that the enhancements in v1.2 will be well received by our customers.”