Origin of the name "Bluetooth"

Apropos nothing i thought i'd share this little tidbit with you all.

I was just watching QI on Sky and the rather brilliant Stephen Fry explained the origins of the wireless standard that is Bluetooth.

Apparently when the likes of Nokia and Sony Ericsson got together to discuss what name they could call this new technology, they decided that they would name it after a 10th century King of Denmark and Norway called Harald Bluetooth.

Now, being a suspicious bugger and not knowing if he was joking or not i googled it and lo and behold it's true.


Now you can go and amaze friends, family and colleagues with this amazing piece of trivia.

Or did everyone else already know?

thanks for that factoid.

From the official Bluetooth site, in case the Wikipedia link isn't believed:

Pretty much common knowledge among developers and nerds alike Bd.

Oh

I thought it was dead clever too.

It would have been so much cooler if they called it Harald.

"Here, I'll transfer the ringtone to your phone"
"Wait a sec, I just need to turn Harald on..."

"Sorry, my Harald isn't getting anything"

"Sorry, my phone just isn't compatible with Harald..."

Hark, the Harald angels sing...

Now, do we know why there is a family "big men dark skinned" in the first place?

"My Harald wants to talk to your Maude"

And to think - had you been around 10 centuries ago, we might all be walking around with Bluedave headsets, and enjoying a more peaceful Toytown.

"Harald dongle is so cool "

"Hold on I'm driving, just let me stick Harald in my ear..."

"...or take this feckin' arrow out of my eye".