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Nordic Semiconductor will sponsor the first BluetoothInnovation World Cup, which is accepting customer design ideas for sports, fitness, and healthcare applications using Bluetooth low-energy, the next generation of Bluetooth technology. This wireless technology is expected to be available on the market next year with shipments of one billion units by 2013, says Nordic.

Nordic hopes the World Cup, Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) competition will increase publicity for its upcoming Bluetooth low-energy wireless technology.  IMS Research believes the technology, with its “dual-mode” chips, will be standard in up to 70% of cell phones and support 13 million Bluetooth low-energy-enabled sports devices and over 16 million watches. IMS also sees Bluetooth low-energy applicable in the medical field, specifically in remote patient monitoring.

Design ideas for the contest will be accepted through October 31 at Bluetooth Innovation Worldcup. After the initial registration, participants can make changes to their application until the deadline.

Three panels with 15 judges each, arriving worldwide from the ICT, electronics, sports, and healthcare fields, will look over the designs without knowledge of the applicant. Ten categories will determine the design’s final score, including level of innovation, integration of other technologies, technical feasibility, integration of Bluetooth low-energy features, patentability, expected time-to-market, required investment level, commercial potential, predicted consumer demand, and the novelty of the idea compared to available products.

A design can gain up to 10 points per category, which brings the perfect score to 100. Each panel will submit its top three choices, and one Bluetooth Innovator of the Year plus three runners-up will be chosen. According to Nordic, they will be announced at the ispo winter 2010 exhibition, the largest sporting goods trade show in the world, in Munich, Germany, on February 7, 2010. The Innovator of the Year will be awarded 5000 euro and a BluetoothQualification Program voucher. All four designers will win global publicity, as well as display space in the Wearable Technologies Area of the exhibition.

Once the first version of the Bluetoothlow-energy specification receives certification, Nordic will unveil its nRF8001 µBlue single-mode Bluetooth low-energy IC.