The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) officially adopted version 4.2 of the Bluetooth core specification this week. In a press release issued yesterday, the group said that Bluetooth 4.2 further establishes Bluetooth as the wireless standard for the Internet of Things.
Key updates in 4.2 improve privacy and increase speed, and a soon-to-be ratified profile will enable IP connectivity. The group also said that the new Bluetooth 4.2 standard has been designed keeping developers and OEMs in mind, thus hinting at more developer-friendly integrations into the latest iteration.
Mark Powell, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG said,
Bluetooth 4.2 is all about continuing to make Bluetooth Smart the best solution to connect all the technology in your life – from personal sensors to your connected home. In addition to the improvements to the specification itself, a new profile known as IPSP enables IPv6 for Bluetooth, opening entirely new doors for device connectivity
The new Bluetooth version brings in more privacy and security enhancements, which is probably the only aspect why enterprise level use of Bluetooth is still minuscule. However, the Bluetooth SIG has ensure of better privacy and security standards.
The new privacy features put control back into the hands of the consumer by making it difficult for eavesdroppers to track a device through its Bluetooth connection without permission. For example, when shopping in a retail store with beacons, unless you’ve enabled permission for the beacon to engage with your device, you can’t be tracked.
With every new version of Bluetooth, a speed bump is natural. Similar is the case with Bluetooth 4.2. With the latest version, users can now achieve more than 2.5 faster data transfer rate than current standards.
However, the most notable addition to Bluetooth 4.2 is the ability to access the Internet directly via IPv6/6LoWPAN through Bluetooth Smart sensors. IP connectivity makes it possible to use existing IP infrastructure to manage Bluetooth Smart “edge” devices.
IMAGE : BLUETOOTH
