Bluetooth 4.0 will be on devices this year

THE BLUETOOTH Special Interest Group thinks the Bluetooth 4.0 specification could find its way onto devices within the year.

Speaking at an event this week, Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG said that the specification will feature in wireless headsets along with smartphones and other gadgets.

Bluetooth 4.0 was announced only just recently in December of last year, and its power savings potential was hailed. However, according to the Goodgearguide website, Foley said the standard offers minimal power saving benefits when compared to Bluetooth 3.0.

"With today's announcement the race is on for product designers to be the first to market," said Foley as he announced the specification in December. "Bluetooth low energy modules for all sorts of new products may now be qualified - this is an important step towards our goal of enabling new markets with Bluetooth wireless technology."

Features of Bluetooth 4.0 include its ability to frequency hop and support full AES-128 encryption, its low cost and ability to run for years on standard coin-cell batteries.