Bluetooth 5 to double the speed and quadruple the range

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Bluetooth Special Interest Group (BSIG) is prepping to announce Bluetooth 5 next week. The next major revision of the popular short-range wireless standard will bring four times the range and two times faster data transfer than the current Bluetooth 4.2 standard, BSIG Executive Director Mark Powell said in an email to Blue Maestro, a United Kingdom health and monitoring company. The new Bluetooth standard will be formally announcement at a media event on June 16 in London.

As mentioned, Bluetooth 5 offers double the speed and quadruple the range of low energy Bluetooth transmissions. For calibration, the maximum theoretical range of Bluetooth 4.x is up to 30 feet, or about nine meters.

Bluetooth 5 also supports location-relevant information and navigation which will be useful for assistive navigation beacons and location-based services.

Powell has confirmed that the next version of Bluetooth will be marketed as Bluetooth 5. Apple’s long been an Associate Board Member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group organization and a year ago has become a Promoting Member with voting rights.

Source: BSIG