The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) are announcing that the new standard they’ll be coming out with will be called Bluetooth 5, set to arrive at the end of the year or early next year. From what the group is saying, we will be in for a lot of good things with Bluetooth 5 – increasing the range, speed, and broadcast capacity of the ubiquitous network standard.
As per the official announcement, Bluetooth 5 will feature a 300 percent increase in range, and double the speed of what we currently have with Bluetooth 4.2. “Bluetooth 5 will transform the way people experience the internet-of-things (IoT) by making it something that happens simply and seamlessly around them,” said Mark Powell, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “Increasing operation range will enable connections to IoT devices that extend far beyond the walls of a typical home, while increasing speed supports faster data transfers and software updates for devices.”
Bluetooth beacons – pre-positioned connections that offer targeted information – are becoming the norm now, and devices with Bluetooth 5 are poised to take advantage of these. “With the ability to broadcast a much richer set of information, Bluetooth 5 will make beacons, location awareness, and other connectionless services an even more relevant part of an effortless and seamless IoT experience,” Powell added.
Bluetooth 5, projected for release in late 2016 to early 2017, will also increase the capacity of connectionless data broadcasts by 800 percent. The standard will be able to do all these alongside keeping the power consumption at a minimum. With the amount of data available now, the standard can actually redefine the way Bluetooth devices transmit information, where there is less and less need to download an app before information becomes available to users.
