Ever since Bluetooth came out one of the biggest problems has been (and still is) that of service discovery and pairing. How do you find another device 'near you' and how do you connect to it to exchange data?

To date mobile phone users worldwide have found themselves struggling with this type of interface, but have been patiently and faithfully been sticking with it because of what it offers them is worth it to them. There's no other reason to explain it. 

People do need to exchange digital information when near each other (e.g. pass on a digital business card, exchange files, photos, videos, etc.). All the more so when the exchange process and phone-to-phone communication is free. And there's not a lot of phone-to-phone communication that IS free...

So even though things have been pretty tough for the poor old mobile phone owners, we've seen Bluetooth become a standard in most mobile phones. People want to be exchanging data in this manner, period.

With the coming of NFC (the next feature to look for in mobile phones), it seems the process for this type of data exchange will become considerably simpler and users will be finally able to perform this task seamlessly, as all we'll need to do is touch two phones (or other Bluetooth+NFC-enabled devices) to pair them and begin the data exchange.

We're not there yet, but the road has been opened for us developers to start mapping our way towards that. The post on NFC Forum explains further:

A new guide explaining how to use NFC to set up Bluetooth pairing has been published by the NFC Forum and the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the trade association responsible for the development, promotion and protection of the Bluetooth specification.

"Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing Using NFC" provides developers with examples of how to implement Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing (SSP) using NFC to take maximum advantage of both technologies when they are present in the same device.

The guide describes the interaction between Bluetooth technology and NFC during SSP and provides examples of both negotiated and static handover in use cases such as:

• Pairing devices with little or no user interface (such as headsets and pedometers) to smartphones
• Pairing devices with extensive user interfaces (such as cars) to smartphones
• Pairing devices such as TVs and smartphones to share photos or to use the phone as a remote control

"With over four billion Bluetooth technology enabled devices in market today and nearly two billion coming online in 2011 alone, Bluetooth technology has massive scale, support and runway for aggressive growth, and we're excited to help developers leverage NFC in the right scenarios," says Bluetooth SIG executive director Michael Foley.

"The beauty of this collaboration is that the SIG, working with the NFC Forum, provides developers with even more design options for connecting Bluetooth devices. For those scenarios that make sense, and where both technologies are available, designing with Bluetooth Secure Simple Pairing using NFC should further empower developers to create great consumer experiences."

"Working with the globally recognised and embedded Bluetooth standard makes perfect sense for NFC," explains Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. "It reaffirms our commitment to broadening the commercialisation of NFC solutions and providing new benefits to consumers."
The guide is available to download free of charge from the NFC Forum's website.