Bluetooth 3.0 has been an overall bust in terms of adoption in mobile and portable devices since the specification was approved in 2009, and now it appears it will be leapfrogged entirely by the new Bluetooth 4.0 spec, adopted in 2010. Engadget reports that the new iPhone 4S, due to ship next week, will be the first smartphone (and mainstream mobile device) to feature Bluetooth 4.0. In addition to significantly lower power consumption, Bluetooth 4.0 features faster data transmission rates, backwards compatibility with legacy Bluetooth protocols, and the ability to act as a hub to collect large amounts of data (say, from multiple monitors) simultaneously.
As the New York Times reported earlier this year, Bluetooth 4.0 opens the door for the development of new, energy-efficient, smarter medical devices free of cumbersome wires. Is this a sign of things to come in the wireless medical device market? Here’s hoping.
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