First there were wide area networks, then local area networks, followed by local area and metro area networks. Then infrared and Bluetooth gave us the personal area network. Now Nokia has something new for us: A technology called Wibree, designed for most personal area network connections such as between a watch and phone or a keyboard and a screen. The PAN acronym is already taken, so I’m not quite sure what exactly they’ll call this new kind of connectivity. The up-close-and-personal area network or the back-up,-you’re-in-my-face area network might be apt, but I suspect the acronyms would be a bit to bulky.

While Nokia claims the technology’s range is 10 meters, supporting up to 1 MB/s of data traffic, it’s obviously intended for much closer quarters with extremely low power consumption and tiny module size. It’s intended to be coupled with a watch battery rather than your typical lithium ion rig. What’s more, it’s intended to be used in conjunction with Bluetooth, rather than replace it. Nokia is talking up dual-mode modules for larger devices with more robust power supplies and Wibree standalone radios for your typical plush toy or timepiece.

It’s a nifty idea, and certainly enabling the smallest of all electronic devices with wireless capabilities is an admirable goal for the industry, but I have to question Nokia’s approach. While Nokia appears to be seeking overall industry consensus for the technology, the consortium it’s built so far—Broadcom, CSR, Epson and Nordic Semiconductor—hardly represents a huge cross-section of either the wireless or consumer electronics industry. The other issue is Nokia’s intention to use Wibree side-by-side with Bluetooth rather than as part of Bluetooth’s migration path. Admittedly Bluetooth and Wibree appear to have different use cases, but we’re talking about a completely new radio here—there are only so many you can cram into a handset.

Already we have dual-band GSM/EDGE handsets with UMTS radios, GPS receivers and Bluetooth modules. Some even have Wi-Fi for good measure. We’re going to start adding another set of mobile TV radios, and after the Sprint WiMAX announcement, WiMAX chipsets are now being discussed as handset components. Adding another radio, the utility of which is fairly small, would just serve to flummox a user base that already has trouble grasping the various wireless technologies.

We’re straying from the vision of wireless connecting all things. Instead we’re embracing a rather skewed idea that wireless connects one specific thing to another specific thing. If we keep down that path, we’re not going to have a networked and connected world. We’ll just have a bunch of gadgets.