HISTORY
The name "Bluetooth" is taken from the 10th century Danish King Harald Blatand - or Harold Bluetooth in English. During the formative stage of the trade association a code name was needed to name the effort. Over an evening discussing European history and the future of wireless technology several felt it was appropriate to name the technology after King Blatand. He had been instrumental in uniting warring factions in parts of what is now Norway, Sweden, and Denmark - just as the technology is designed to allow collaboration between differing industries such as the computing, mobile phone, and automotive markets. The code name stuck.
In Jelling, Denmark a monument can be found in a churchyard that celebrates both his achievements and those of his father, the first king of Denmark "Gorm the Old". Interestingly, this particular stone was lost for nearly six hundred years after Harald had a small war with his own son, Sven Forkbeard, over control of the country. Sven "won" the argument (exiling his father in the process), and since this runic stone also glorified Harald, Sven had it buried. Only years later a farmer, curious about a large mound in his farm, rediscovered the stone.
A Scandinavian firm originally designed the logo at the time the trade association was announced to the public. Keeping with the traditions of the name, the logo combines the runic alphabetic characters "H" which looks similar to an asterisk and "B". Look carefully – you can see both represented in the logo.
Since Bluetooth technology was created, the Bluetooth SIG and its member companies have accomplished great milestones. Read below to learn what strides have been taken since its inception to make Bluetooth wireless technology the globally successful standard it is today.
