Bluetooth 4.0 Hits The New iPad, Low-Energy Loves The Slate

Bluetooth 3.0 and 4.0 haven't seen a huge amount of publicity, mostly due to the fact that average consumers aren't paying attention to version numbers. But for techies, 4.0 is important. It's a low-energy spec, and on a mobile device, every minute of battery life makes a major difference. The new iPad is the first to use BT 4.0, dubbed the world's first Bluetooth Smart Ready tablet, and it's certainly destined to be only the first of many. The fact that Apple's new iPad is a Bluetooth Smart Ready hub is big news for the broad CE ecosystem – accessory manufacturers, app developers, and most importantly, consumers. Every second, there are over 60 Bluetooth enabled devices commercialized worldwide – Classic Bluetooth technology and now Bluetooth Smart devices joining the 7 billion Bluetooth enabled devices already in market. This massive ecosystem is expected to expand remarkably within the next two years: 2B Bluetooth enabled devices will ship in 2012 and 3B are expected to ship in 2014, according to Peter Cooney, practice director, semiconductors at industry watcher ABI Research, Inc.


Apple's grasp on the tablet market is only getting stronger, but for those still holding out for an ICS slate, BT 4.0 is clearly ready for cooking when it comes to tablets.