Bluetooth is an industry standard for wireless data transmission between devices over short distances. It was first defined in the 1990s by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), in IEEE 802.15.1. Both connectionless and connection oriented data transmission is possible, to one or more device, in an Ad-hoc or piconet.

The name Bluetooth comes from the danish king Harald Blauzahn, Blauzahn meaning 'blue tooth' in English. The main part of the initial development was done by the dutch professor Jaap Haartsen for the company Ericsson. Later, Intel and Nokia were the main contributors.

The freqencies used are in the license-free ISM band, between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz, and can therefore be used without a permit worldwide. Interferences with Wifi networks, wireless telephones or microwaves, all working in the same ISM band, are possible.