Bluetooth 5 Is Here (betanews.com)

Reader BrianFagioli writes: Today, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group announces the official adoption of the previously-announced Bluetooth 5. In other words, it is officially the next major version of the technology, which will eventually be found in many consumer devices. So, will you start to see Bluetooth 5 devices and dongles with faster speeds and longer range in stores tomorrow? Nope -- sorry, folks. Consumers will have to wait until 2017. The Bluetooth SIG says devices should become available between February and June next year.In a statement, Bluetooth SIG reminded the specifications of Bluetooth 5 -- "Key feature updates include four times range, two times speed, and eight times broadcast message capacity. Longer range powers whole home and building coverage, for more robust and reliable connections."

Comments

Audio

[rodrigoandrade]

If it gives me better wireless audio, I'm all for it. Else, it's a gimmick, as I can surely count on one hand the number of times I used Bluetooth (PS3/4 accessories included).

http://lifehacker.com/does-bluetooth-audio-still-suck-1505063323

Re:Audio

[TFlan91]

"however not sure why they bother as at this point why would you choose ____ when other ____ technologies now do the job"

lets play madlibs.

javascript/java/go/php/ruby/python ... programming
dick ... dildo
blah blah blah

As always, there are different tools for different jobs. Bluetooth uses much less power than WiFi for example.

Re:Audio

[Anonymous Coward]

Bluetooth has quite adequate range for the use cases it serves. Game controllers, headphones, connecting to car entertainment/information systems, all these things work flawlessly with only a few meters of range needed. If you need more range than that, you're using the wrong technology.

Re:Audio

[The-Ixian]

Why is it that after so many years, BT audio still stutters and jumps sometimes?

I have experienced this problem across all the different devices and headphones I have owned over the years. It doesn't seem to matter how high end the devices are, this problem eventually crops up from time-to-time. It normally can be fixed by turning off wifi on the device, but that doesn't always do it.

This problem seems to rear its head more often when I am around other people (public transit, restaurants, office buildings, etc) which leads me to believe it is an interference problem.

If that is true then the increased range and speed might solve it, right? But if everyone has higher power BT signals wouldn't the interference be worse?

I guess just wait and see...

Re:Audio

[mlts]

I wouldn't mind something better than A2DP to play high quality audio, with the ability to downshift if there are connectivity issues. I also wouldn't mind some sort of block transfer protocol, perhaps upshifting to Wi-Fi (without needing to join a SSID or use an AP) when needed. Wi-Fi Direct tries to do this, but it needs an AP, so it isn't really that useful for allowing a drive to communicate to a laptop while the laptop is already using an AP, and one doesn't want to connect their hard drive to a public hotspot.

Re:Audio

[bobbied]

Why is it that after so many years, BT audio still stutters and jumps sometimes?

Two reasons... #1 usually the devices are cheap, underpowered and cannot keep up with blue tooth's overall processing demands and do all the other glitzy things that attracted all the people who where willing to purchase the device.... And #2, Bluetooth is not very robust in it's interference resistance as implemented on most low end devices (see #1).

Re:Audio

[gravewax]

plenty of devices use wifi/wireless tech in exactly the same way that Bluetooth is used. Bluetooth authentication is usually hidden to make it easier to understand for the average clueless user, just like it is hidden for other wireless tech devices like mice etc that don't use Bluetooth, simply because you don't see the network selection and authentication doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Re:Audio

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Have you ever actually used a Bluetooth device?

In Putinist devices, Bluetooth uses you!

. . . and please don't tell that joke about Helen Keller's parents punishing her by moving the furniture.

Have you ever actually seen photos of Helen's loving parents . . . ?

Neither did she!

Re:Audio

[Anonymous Coward]

#3 Bluetooth uses public spectrum and is subject to interference from all kinds of other electronic devices, including other bluetooth devices in the immediate area.

Re:Audio

[plover]

Interference seems to be a big problem with Bluetooth. There are certain intersections in my city where the signal craps out while crossing the street; certain sections of the train and bus routes, and other places where music simply stutters or dies. I assume there's a local point source of interference to blame in each of those areas. I ended up fixing the problem by shelving my collection of Bluetooth headphones and going back to using wired headphones. The sound quality and reliability are far superior, and the wire just isn't a problem. I'm also not careless enough to ever have dropped my phone in water, so that's never been a real issue for me, either.

So while Apple said "everybody just use Bluetooth", it was obvious they never have. I'll be hanging on to my older iPhone for quite a while yet.

Re:Audio

[p0p0]

I've had this problem using my Android phone and PowerAMP to play. It turns out the problem is caused by turning the screen off and the phone trying to go to sleep. Getting an app to keep the screen on works, but then you're wasting a ton of battery.

Leaving the screen on for me stops all those problems, and I've tried it on 3-4 different affordable bluetooth speakers.

Re:Audio

[Applehu Akbar]

"Interference seems to be a big problem with Bluetooth. There are certain intersections in my city where the signal craps out while crossing the street;"

Usually, this happens about ten milliseconds before the truck you walked in front of slams into you as its grille interferes with the signal.

Re:Battery Life

[slapout]

Yes. You now get 5.5 mintues

Good hardware, bad software.

[Ostracus]

Unfortunately for BT the software stacks will still suck.

Will we get simultaneous pairing?

[swb]

I mean where I can pair a set of headphones to, say, a phone and a computer at the same time and get audio from both at the same time? Or send the audio from one device to multiple devices at the same time? Two headsets paired to one phone at once?

Is this a hardware restriction of the radios, a limitation of the BT protocol or just the retarded nature of the implementation?

Re:Will we get simultaneous pairing?

[swb]

I guess I'm asking "why not?"

If two devices can share information about frequency changes, key rotation or whatever, why can't three or more? The assumption is that you go through manual pairing/peering verification on the devices themselves, so there seems to be no reason that the protocols couldn't replicate this data among more than two devices.

Re:iPhone support

[seoras]

iPhone 7 & Air Pods (ie W1 chip) already support BT5 (in hardware anyway).
Today they just ratified the standard and set it in stone (which allows the hardware to get a software update on todays spec).
Perhaps this is why the Air Pods were delayed until now.

Re:15 competing standards

[Big Hairy Ian]

Consumers will have to wait until 2017.

Somebody tell them it's December now!