Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced a new version of Bluetooth connectivity – version 4.2 – that brings faster connectivity and a number of improvements over the predecessor.
The main highlight of Bluetooth 4.2 is the faster data sharing – In 4.2, Bluetooth Smart is up to 2.5x faster with a packet capacity increase – nearly 10x more versus previous versions. Bluetooth 4.2 also brings the latest version of Internet protocol (IPv6/6LoWPAN) for Bluetooth Smart devices and Internet connectivity with the flexible Bluetooth Smart Generic Attribute Profiles (GATT) architecture (which is expected to be available early 2015) .
The new version focusses on Internet of Things (IoTs) as the number of such devices are expected to go past 28 billion by 2020. The new version features industry-standard encryption and power efficiency. Learn more about Bluetooth 4.2 here.
Bluetooth 4.1, released almost a year ago, had also brought faster speed for bulk data transfers and focussed on connectivity with “smart devices”.