Posted Thu Dec 8, 2016 at 10:45 AM PST by Steven Cohen
The latest Bluetooth spec has been adopted.
The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced the official launch of the Bluetooth 5 core specification. Performance updates include a longer range, faster speeds, larger broadcast message capacity, and improved interoperability and coexistence with other wireless tech, ensuring an advance Internet of Things (IoT) experience.
"Bluetooth is revolutionizing how people experience the IoT. Bluetooth 5 continues to drive this revolution by delivering reliable IoT connections and mobilizing the adoption of beacons, which in turn will decrease connection barriers and enable a seamless IoT experience," said Mark Powell, Executive Director of Bluetooth SIG.
The Bluetooth 5 spec offers four times the range, two times the speed, and eight times the broadcast message capacity over the previous Bluetooth spec. This means that Bluetooth 5 connections can now cover larger areas like whole homes and buildings with more reliable connections, provide faster speed for more responsive, high performance devices, and send more data. In addition, the new spec has also been optimized to reduce potential interference with other wireless technologies. Likewise, the new spec still maintains Bluetooth's low energy functionality and developer flexibility.
"The global wireless connectivity market is growing rapidly, with an anticipated 10 billion annual IC shipments by 2021," said Andrew Zignani with ABI Research. "The introduction of Bluetooth 5 will create new opportunities in various verticals of the IoT market by reducing complexity and cost and giving manufacturers greater flexibility in targeting multiple applications and use cases."
Specific products with Bluetooth 5 support have not been announced yet, but the first devices with Bluetooth 5 are expected to arrive within the next two to six months.
Source: Bluetooth
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