The Bluetooth SIG has revealed than a new update to the Bluetooth specification is being aounced next week on the 16th June that would feature four times the speed and double the range of the current Bluetooth 4.2 standard.
That translates into data transfer of up to 2 mbps and maximum range of 300 meters in ideal conditions.
Bluetooth 5 will also feature larger “advertising packet” size, the data packets devices can send to other Bluetooth devices they are not paired with.
This is useful for Bluetooth beacons or for other location profile devices like Microsoft’s Treasure Tag or device hand-off like Microsoft’s upcoming Continuity-like feature.
It will likely also include lower-power modes for Inteet of Things devices.
It is not yet known if the new spec will require new hardware, but either way it is likely we will have to wait till 2017 before new devices ship with the new stack.