Apple Looking to Expand Bluetooth Support in iOS

Other than a handful of stereo receivers and standalone speakers, there aren’t many AirPlay-compatible accessories on the market. Manufacturers haven’t really adopted Apple’s wireless technology like the company had hoped it would.

So it’s no surprise that Macotakara, a Japanese blog known for leaking Apple information, is reporting that the company is looking to rethink wireless connectivity in iOS. The company is now apparently showing a deep interest in Bluetooth.

According to Macotakara, Apple hosted a MFI (Made for iPhone/iPad/iPod) Conference last week in Shenzen, China. The iPhone-makers revealed that they are going to start providing a new connectivity chip to encourage more iOS-compatible accessories.

The chip will allow hardware to interact with iOS devices via AirPlay, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. You might recall that all of Apple’s recently-released products have included Bluetooth 4.0, such as its MacBook Airs, Mac Minis, and even the new iPhone 4S.

The company obviously thinks that the low-energy wireless technology is the wave of the future, as there have been several reports that the next generation Apple TV will contain it. There have also been rumors that Apple is working on AirPlay-over-Bluetooth, which would remove the need for a Wi-Fi network.

This is big news for a couple of reasons. First, it means we could be seeing a lot more wireless iOS accessories in the near future. And second, it means we could finally see Apple TV gaming take off. Although there are a few Apple TV-compatible games available, the current AirPlay-over-Wi-Fi solution makes for a choppy gaming experience. Bluetooth would provide a much lower-latency connection.

The future of iOS just got a lot more interesting.

[MacRumors]