Apparently one of the reasons your Bluetooth gadgets won’t work well with each other is that they might be fake. Bizarre? Yes! True. Possibly. According to NewsWireless, over 50% of Bluetooth equipment on sale in the UK is counterfeit, according to a survey. And that figure is set to rise. The group that sets Bluetooth standards says that by year end, as little as 15% of the “Bluetooth” equipment on sale in retail outlets may be genuine.
So who would fake Bluetooth? Counterfeiters, apparently, who are trying to flood the market with fakes for the end-of-year boom expected in hands-free Bluetooth gear, which is expected as the result of impending legislation in several countries about driving with cellphones. Of course part of this is not that the gadgets are fake, so much as they don’t adhere to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s standards. So, while they shouldn’t use the name Bluetooth, they may possibly work. Given my miserable experience with Bluetooth gadgets until now, I can’t really see the difference.