The SIG and media partner CNET announced the overall winner and the category winners of the annual Bluetooth® Breakthrough Awards. Over the last few years, the breakthrough awards have helped bring attention to some of the best Bluetooth enabled products, applications, and concepts. This year is no exception. The category winners are:

• Oral-B Application (Procter & Gamble)—Breakthrough Application
• SMART kapp (SMART Technologies)—Breakthrough Product
• COBI(iCradle GmbH)—Breakthrough Prototype

Additionally, sixteen-year-old, Kenneth Shinozuka, won the Breakthrough Awards student category, which celebrates submissions from the next generation of Bluetooth innovators and young entrepreneurs.

From these category winners, iCradle’s COBI takes the overall winner spot. “COBI was our favorite prototype and named the overall Bluetooth Breakthrough Award winner for its simple yet clever functionality as a bicycle add-on. Using Bluetooth Smart to turn your smart phone into a smart dashboard for your bike, this is a future product we would want to buy for ourselves,” said John Falcone, executive editor at CNET. “All the winners demonstrated the convenience, efficiency, and consumer-desired experiences that Bluetooth enables – from health and fitness to the office to the smart home.”

Breakthrough Prototype and Overall Winner
COBI(iCradle GmbH) uses Bluetooth Smart technology to transform any bike into a smart, connected bike for a more fun, safe, and convenient experience. As the overall winner, iCradle will receive two round-trip tickets to attend Bluetooth World 2015 in April and free exhibition space, valued at $12,500 USD.

Breakthrough Student
SafeWanderTM(Kenneth Shinozuka) is a wearable sensor that uses Bluetooth Smart to improve remote health monitoring, specifically focused on helping Alzheimer’s patients from wandering by sending alerts to caregivers and family members. The Student category winner receives a cash prize of $5,000 USD.

Breakthrough Application
Oral-B Application (Procter & Gamble) accompanies an electronic toothbrush that uses Bluetooth Smart technology to send information securely and efficiently and track real-time data about dental habits. CNET selected the Oral-B app in this category because it “is the next best thing to having your dentist there to encourage your daily tooth brushing regimen.”

Breakthrough Product 
SMART kapp (SMART Technologies) leverages Bluetooth Smart technology to easily and digitally capture, save, and share content from a dry-erase board with any PC and mobile device. “SMART Kapp aims to bring the white board into the twenty-first century. Finally, office brainstorm meetings may begin to actually pay off,” said CNET.

(Credit: Errett Kroeter)