The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) said version 3.0 of the spec, which uses Wi-Fi via an 802.11 Protocol Adaption Layer. to achieve significantly faster data rate transfers, would be released on April 21.

The Adaption Layer will allow devices to pair through an 802.11 protocol and if there is no Wi-Fi detected, Bluetooth will be used.

The new version will also have Enhanced Power Control, which is said to reduce the number of disconnects that is caused by things like putting the cell phone in a pocket.

While Bluetooth has proven tremendously successful over the past decade and continued to upgrade and adept — for instance it is readying a low power version and recently, the WiMedia Alliance said it would hand over all current and future specification development of its version of ultrawideband (UWB) to the Bluetooth SIG — it is beginning to face some competition in the wireless transfer market from technologies such as near-field communication (NFC).

Sony is also readying a proprietary wireless protocol technology, and it said TransferJet can transfer data at 560 Mbits/s.

It is expected to be in multiple Sony laptops, cell phone, and televisions, but it is unclear if it will gain widespread adoption among other manufacturers.