How did 'Bluetooth' get its name?

The best-known modern technology owes its name and logo to a Viking-era king with a bad tooth. This is the story of how, a quarter century ago, two engineers hatched the idea for the moniker "Bluetooth".

Birth Of A Name

In late 1997, two engineers - Sven Mattisson, a Swede working at Ericsson and Jim Kardach, an American employed by Intel - faltered in pitching their wireless products at a seminar. They then realised that they needed a cool code name for the project.

After their confusing pitch, they hung out and Kardach, a history enthusiast, asked Mattisson about Vikings. Mattisson recommended that Kardach read a well-known Swedish historical novel about the Vikings, The Long Ships.

10th Century

Set in the 10th century, the book had one name that caught Kardach's attention : that of the king of Denmark, Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson.

An important historic figure in Scandinavia in that period, the Denmark king's nickname is said to refer to a dead tooth or as other tales have it, to his liking for blueberries or even a simple translation error.

Magic Of Unions

During Gormsson's reign, Denmark turned its back on its pagan beliefs and Norse gods, gradually converting to Christianity. But he is best known for having united Norway and Denmark in a union that lasted until 1814.

A king who unified Scandinavian rivals - the parallel delighted those seeking to unite the PC and cellular industries with a short-range wireless link.

1998

The dawn of the "wireless" era. An international consortium created a universal standard for the technology first developed by Ericsson in 1994.

1999

The first consumer device equipped with the technology hit the market. Its name was initially meant to be temporary until something better was devised. But it became permanent.

Secret Of The Logo

The logo is a superimposition of the runes for the letters "H" and "B", the King Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson's initials.

       Nordic H + Nordic B = The logo.

Tailpiece. 

Got up leisurely at a half past 6, being a Sunday and was ready by a quarter to 10. Video called Ammu and Mini and had a long chat. Meanwhile Pidavoor Amma was celebrating her 94th birthday. Also spoke to Suma kunjamma who has had a fall in her bathroom and fractured both her wrists.

Since everyone was there at Pidavoor during the daytime, we'd video called her in the evening and wished her many happy returns. 

Earlier, we'd ordered for grocery on Harisree Supermarket and the stuff was delivered before lunch time.