Aastra to develop Bluetooth-based devices

Aastra Technologies Ltd has received $9.9 million from Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) to develop a suite of telecommunications products using the Bluetooth wireless networking standard. The Concord ON-based firm will work in conjunction with the Communications Research Centre, area universities and private sector partners to conduct pre-competitive research for the products, enabling business and home users to connect various communications devices wirelessly for up to 10 metres. aastra will embed its telephone equipment with Bluetooth short-range radio technology to provide a seamless infrastructure for linking wired and wireless devices, with R&D taking place at the firm’s Concord and Calgary facilities. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group responsible for qualifying Bluetooth products includes Ericsson, IBM, Nokia, Intel and Toshiba....