But the Finnish mobile phone leader was vague on details of just how Wibree would fit into the already crowded short-range wireless marketplace.

Nokia is billing Wibree as a complimentary technology to Bluetooth and UWB, and does not compete with either. We’re not looking at this as a replacement technology, said Nokia spokeswoman Laurie Armstrong.

Yet industry watchers had a different take. I find that hard to believe because anytime you have a wireless technology it doesn’t exist in a vacuum, said Neil Strother, research director for mobile devices at market researcher NPD Group.

If business users today want connectivity, at least in the US, it’s there at some level, he noted. Their problem today is trying to figure out what to support or not.

Nokia is pushing Wibree as being 10 times more energy efficient than Bluetooth, which would have business benefits if the technology were part of a dual-chip mobile device, Strother said.

Wibree would be implemented as either a stand-alone chip, for small devices such as watches and sports sensors, or as Bluetooth-Wibree dual-mode chip, for Bluetooth devices to connect to a new range of smallest devices, Nokia said.

Armstrong said the company is not yet discussing its vision for larger mobile devices, such as cell phones.

Wibree would operate in the 2.4GHz band and promises Bluetooth-like performance within a zero to 10 meter range and data rate of 1 Mbps.

While Nokia said one of its four target markets for Wibree was enterprise, specifically for use in wireless keyboards and mice, and digital pens, Strother said it seems more of a broader, consumer play.

Sports, healthcare and entertainment are other markets where Nokia plans to focus Wibree. Indeed, the technology makes more sense than Bluetooth for these markets where smaller and less power ravenous data transfer would enable new applications for intelligent watches and other wearables.

Nokia’s Armstrong said business users would use Wibree when they do not require high data or processing-power intensive transfer of content or data, in order to save on power consumption. In other words, when a data transfer situation doesn’t require a mobile device’s radio to be turned on.

Indeed, uncertainty about Wibree’s place in the broader short-range wireless market was the order of the day. Strother reckons Nokia may be simply trying to stake its claim in the emerging ubiquitous computing market, whereby users are bathed in a connected environment.

It may be a chance for Nokia to lead in a new way; and it fits in with at least Nokia’s vision of multimedia computing, he said. Nokia is trying to change the mobile phone to a multimedia device … then with Wibree you can connect to other devices.

Armstrong said Nokia did not see Wibree as the next-generation Bluetooth – or any other existing short-range wireless technology for that matter – for the WPAN, or wireless personal area network.

The interoperability standard for Wibree is likely by the second half of 2007 and Nokia will release Wibree-enabled devices only once the standard has been ratified, Armstrong said.

Nokia’s partners on Wibree include Broadcom, CSR, Epson, Nordic Semiconductor, Suunto and Taiyo Yuden. All have agreed to licensing terms.