Are you ready for your new digital future? It’s a great question to ask as the role your mobile phone plays in your life continues to grow. Not only is your iPhone or Android great for texting and Pokémon catching, you can soon use it to open your car door.
In a recent conversation with Pelle Svensson, Product Marketing Short Range and Sven Etzold, Sr. Director Business Marketing at u-blox, I got a chance to discuss what this module maker is looking forward to seeing happen as bluetooth low energy 4.2 or BLE rolls out.
It’s worth pointing out this spec allows some of the following benefits over 4.1…
IoT Capabilities:
- Low-power IP (IPv6/6LoWPAN)
- Bluetooth Smart Internet Gateways (GATT)
Security:
- LE Privacy 1.2
- LE Secure Connections
Speed:
- 250% Faster
- 10x More Capacity
Expect to see BLE show up in the following areas:
Automotive is a natural – expect your phone to eat your car keys. Your car will now know when you are approaching and can sound its horn or flash lights to alert you of its precise location. Then again, you can use your phone to guide you right to it.
Transportation/logistics is another area as is fleet management – any market where items of value need tracking. A battery which can last 10 years certainly doesn’t hurt in any of these markets.
Mobile health is is a booming space and patients recover better at home according to research… Now patients can be in the comfort of their residence as their bluetooth medical sensors communicate with a hub and transmit their vital and other signs to their medical practitioners.
Retail is a great application as well and the new security spec in BLE 4.2 allows it to become the method of choice for payments. Assuming Apple and Google are OK with it of course.
Smart buildings such as offices, hospitals, and even homes which are said to eventually get 300-400 wireless devices each will benefit from BLE.
U-blox also makes complete packages with the module, antenna and certifications for various countries.
They also probably deserve the award for the most thought provoking tech discussion I’ve had in a while. For example, they brought up the idea of choosing gas stations in the age of autonomous vehicles. How will this be done? And also smart factories… How will they decide where to source their raw materials from?
The BLE applications are certainly a look at the future but just as exciting is how decisions which humans used to make will be taken care of when humans aren’t involved. One last thing – much of their 4.2 solutions will be upgradeable to the BT 5.0 standard.