The Bluetooth 5 specifications have been released, and the updated wireless standard offers 4x range, 2x speed and 8x broadcasting message capacity.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) officially adopted Bluetooth 5 as the latest version of the Bluetooth core specification this week. Key updates to Bluetooth 5 include longer range, faster speed, and larger broadcast message capacity (2 Mbps), as well as improved interoperability and coexistence with other wireless technologies, compared to Bluetooth 4.2.

Longer range powers whole home and building coverage, for more reliable connections. Higher speed enables more responsive, high-performance devices. Increased broadcast message size increases the data sent for improved and more context relevant solutions.

Bluetooth 5 also includes updates that help reduce potential interference with other wireless technologies to ensure Bluetooth devices can coexist within the complex global IoT environment. Bluetooth 5 delivers all of this while maintaining its low-energy functionality and flexibility for developers to meet the needs of their device or application.

"The global wireless connectivity market is growing rapidly, with an anticipated 10 billion annual IC shipments by 2021," said Andrew Zignani with ABI Research. "The introduction of Bluetooth 5 will create new opportunities in various verticals of the IoT market by reducing complexity and cost and giving manufacturers greater flexibility in targeting multiple applications and use cases."

Consumers can expect to see products built with Bluetooth 5 within two to six months of today?s release.