Bluetooth 5 set to usher in new location-based services
Mark Powell, the executive director of Bluetooth SIG, has detailed the expansion of its location-based services through Bluetooth 5. The new software includes increased advertising transmission capacity and adapted connectionless services.

No more is there a "v" or dot point, the latest Bluetooth is simply Bluetooth 5, and it will help with beacons, IoT, location, speed, range and more.

The organisers behind the Bluetooth SIG scooped themselves by announcing in advance that the successor to the Bluetooth v4.x version would arrive on 16 June as Bluetooth 5.

It's been a long time since Bluetooth ticked over a full version number, with Bluetooth v4.0 launched in 2011, the same year as the iPhone 4S, which also came with Bluetooth v4.0 support. That, of course, leads to speculation that this year's iPhone 7 will support Bluetooth 5.

So, let's get back to Bluetooth 5. The executive director of the Bluetooth SIG is Mark Powell, who explained that the "new naming approach is focused on simplifying our marketing, communicating user benefits more effectively and making it easier to signal significant technology updates to the market".

What does Bluetooth 5 have to offer on the technical side?

As noted in the headline, and as the Bluetooth SIG had already previously announced, it will "double the range and quadruple the speed of low energy Bluetooth transmissions".

But of course, there’s more.

Powell states that “Bluetooth 5 will also provide significant new functionality for connectionless services like location-relevant information and navigation.

“By adding significantly more capacity to advertising transmissions, Bluetooth 5 will further propel the adoption and deployment of beacons and location-based services to users around the world.”

Read on below the image for more...

The Bluetooth SIG group is also hosting Bluetooth World in London on 16 June, which is where Bluetooth 5 will be unveiled unto the world.

We are told that "if you want to see the future of the Internet of Things (IoT), you should attend Bluetooth World".

Naturally, the world will get all the details and more on 16 June, and we’ll present it all to you when the information launches!

Meanwhile, here’s Bluetooth SIG’s video on Bluetooth World: