Kodak To Defang BluetoothKodak To Defang Bluetooth

Eastman Kodak and the Monroe Fund, a unit of venture-capital firm Trillium Group, are forming a company to challenge Bluetooth, the wireless protocol that's received much attention in recent months. Appairent Technologies will employ technology from Kodak's labs to develop small radio transceivers that can be embedded into cell phones, PDAs, and other electronic products to transmit data at rapid speeds over wireless personal area networks.

The new transceivers have speeds up to 50 times faster than Bluetooth, Trillium general partner Dennis DeLeo says. "Our products will be like Bluetooth on steroids," he says. The amount invested in Appairent wasn't disclosed.