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Bluetooth 4.0 To Reach Devices In Fourth Quarter

Posted by samzenpus on from the roll-it-out dept.

angry tapir writes "The Bluetooth 4.0 wireless specification could start to appear in devices such as headsets, smartphones and PCs by the fourth quarter, said the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. The new specification will be able to be used in lower-power devices than previous versions of the technology, including watches, pedometers, smart meters and other gadgets that run on coin-cell batteries."

6 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Time to retire IR for remotes by Darth+Sdlavrot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My brand new TV and Blueray player still use IR remotes -- essentially the same tech as was used in the TV and VCR I bought 25 years ago - and it still sucks hind tit.

    We've had BT for years now -- it's time for manufacturers to join the 21st century.

    1. Re:Time to retire IR for remotes by Fusen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Even with BT 4.0, I'd love to see a power usage comparison, I'm sure IR would easily win.

    2. Re:Time to retire IR for remotes by maxwell+demon · · Score: 4, Informative

      What's so bad about IR? I mean, except for the fact that most companies make remote controls which have to be held in a very narrow angle towards the device. But that's not a problem of IR per se; my first TV had an IR remote control where I wouldn't even have to point it vaguely in the direction of the TV.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    3. Re:Time to retire IR for remotes by ircmaxell · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, what would be cool is if the spec allowed for dynamically powered devices. So the device would constantly modulate the power output to keep it just high enough to maintain connection. So if the default output is 2.5 mW (the actual output for a class 2 device), it could scale that back to save on power. So if the connected device is close enough, it could run at 0.25 mW as long as the connection is maintained. This would only work well if the modulation circuit was fast enough (otherwise if you increased the power needed faster than it could respond it would simply lose connection).

      There are 2 main reasons (as far as I can see) that bluetooth will always use more power than IR. First, is that turning electrical impulses to IR is a lot more efficient (using a LED) than turning electrical impulses into a EMF via an antenna (2.4 ghz has a wavelength of 12.5 cm. So the antenna needs to be either a 1/4 wavelength or a folded design to fit in a portable device). Second, is that unlike IR, bluetooth has frequency hopping built right in. So bluetooth has to have an extra layer of active processing to watch for interference on a channel, and jump to another one (this happens at around 1.6khz)... IR takes no measures against interference. Get someone with a common TV remote (assuming same frequency band) and they can disrupt your IR communication. So the power usage is definitely a tradeoff...

      --
      If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
  2. That is MOST impressive by erroneus · · Score: 4, Funny

    From science fiction to science fact! While the time difference is much less significant than the time difference indicated in the movie "Frequency", performing a radio frequency transaction to devices in the fourth quarter while we are in the first quarter is quite impressive. It should be enough to collect useful information such as lottery numbers.

  3. Re:They're rolling out Bluetooth 4... by I+confirm+I'm+not+a · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's nothing - I'm still waiting for TeX to hit version 4. It seems like it's been around the 3.14159 point forever!

    --
    This is where the serious fun begins.