The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has created a standard that will allow users to switch between the power-sipping, low-bandwidth Bluetooth radio signal and a power-sucking, high-bandwidth Wi-Fi signal.

Devices using the specification will be able to quickly alternate between whatever signal works best for the task at hand. For example, talking on a headset using a Bluetooth signal while downloading a bunch of songs from your computer can happen simultaneously. Devices using the standard could also initiate the connection using Bluetooth, and then transfer files, such as video or photos, using the faster Wi-Fi signals.

Members of the Bluetooth SIG are testing the signal-hopping specs right now, and expect related products to be out in 2009. Bluetooth already does this with ultrawideband and Wibree technology, but branching out into other wireless standards should help make file transfer faster and save battery power.