Even if you’re not necessarily aware of it all the time, wireless signals are zooming around you every minute of every day. Though WiFi and cell signals have been in heavy use for a long time, most common applications of Bluetooth aren’t nearly as well-known. Bluetooth is much better than WiFi for short-range (less than 30 feet) communication, because it operates at a much lower power.
Today, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) released its 2016 roadmap. Many of these improvements relate to the Internet of Things (IoT), with a focus on bettering range, speeds, and networking. These will particularly benefit smart home and infrastructure projects and location-based services.
Increases of up to four times in range can be expected from Bluetooth Smart, giving devices a more robust connection in the home or larger area applications. A doubling of data transfer speeds is also in the plans, without increasing power consumption over current technology, will help critical applications like medical devices work more efficiently and quickly.
Specific plans for mesh networking are also in place, allowing multiple Bluetooth devices to connect together to cover an entire home or building, which opens up new automation applications for smart homes and industry. The move comes as competing mesh wireless standards like Z-Wave and ZigBee are becoming increasingly commonplace in the home.
The SIG will be previewing new features and updates from the 2016 roadmap in the months to come.
[source]BusinessWire[/source]
