Bluetooth 4.0 devices to make the scene later this year

We were glad to see Bluetooth low energy actually added to the Bluetooth 4.0 spec, but of course the question remained: when are we going to get our hands on it? By Q4 this year, apparently -- at least according to the Bluetooth SIG. But don't expect any dramatic changes in battery life for most of your gadgets: while the low energy spec introduces connectivity to a host of lower-power devices that have in the past relied on proprietary technology (such as watches, pedometers, and cats), your traditional Bluetooth devices, such as phones and laptops, will consume roughly the same amount of power. Indeed, the low energy spec is merely throwing smaller devices (with smaller amounts of data to transfer) in to the mix: if you want Trans-Siberian Orchestra to sound as glorious as ever on your wireless headphones, you'll need to push as much data (and hence draw as much power) with version 4 as you would with version 3. If you've ever heard "A Mad Russian's Christmas," you'd know what we're talking about.

[mastahc411 Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:03PM]

Cats? When did they start putting bluetooth in those? And do they support A2DP so I can have them meow "A Mad Russian's Christmas"? I think I'll be able to die happy after that.

[wallace Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:10PM]

@mastahc411 Hopefully these new bluetooth kitties are litter box trained. Bluetooth cat FTW!

[Faslane66 Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:44PM]

@rock99rock I want to "send them as file" to someone ;-)

[Duke Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:28PM]

@mastahc411 I would love to put bluetooth in our cats - but let's face it. They wouldn't answer our calls still.

[scratchfury Posted Mar 5th 2010 5:28PM]

@mastahc411
The more logical explanation is that the cat ate a bluetooth ear piece.

[Cy Starkman Posted Mar 5th 2010 7:09PM]

@mastahc411

of course cats. cats have been behind wireless technology for a long time. It's suits their relaxed, order the human from across the room kind of way.

What's really suprising is that it's not coming to smart phones but will feature heavily on dumb phones that usually are free. Curious.

[n00neimp0rtant Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:09PM]

I hope this embarrasses Apple into finally updating their Bluetooth.

[harley3k Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:11PM]

Bluetooth cat = awesome.

[doozy Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:16PM]

@harley3k

LOL!

[JimJam707 Posted Mar 5th 2010 2:50PM]

@harley3k
What would you do with it? Turn up the meows?

[albinomexi Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:01PM]

Cat, Ima kitty cat, and I dance dance dance and dance dance.
That's awesome.

[pankomputerek Posted Mar 5th 2010 5:29PM]

@harley3k *Bluetooth+Cat=Awesome
Just corrected! Be perfectionist.

[hq Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:15PM]

Catspeaker FTW!

[haz Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:18PM]

Ask Engadget: Who Makes the Cutest Bluetooth Cat

[shishi Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:26PM]

What is the range of that cat? 3 m? 10 m?

[Honis Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:42PM]

@Lord Vader nice!

[DallasB Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:51PM]

Weird that there working on Bluetooth 4.0 when I haven't seen a 3.0 Bluetooth on any phone. My iPhone runs 2.1.

[gentlefury Posted Mar 5th 2010 1:55PM]

@DallasB

I didnt even know there was a 3.0!!

I don't care about power consumption, when are the going to make a BT with at least USB 1.0 speed????

[dds1043 Posted Mar 5th 2010 2:01PM]

I think I just woke up from a comma or something, but where's that high speed 3.0 they were talking about? Does 4.0 do 1080p wireless video?

[MacBandit Posted Mar 5th 2010 2:06PM]

Bluetooth 4.0 will probably get better power life with or without any low energy mode. The reason is 4.0 shouldn't be constanty searching for a connection and will hold a connection better then the current Bluetooth.

[glamajamma Posted Mar 5th 2010 2:29PM]

I hope my cat takes to this better than it did when I tried plugging in that Wi-Fi dongle.

[Icedassault Posted Mar 7th 2010 4:46PM]

@glamajamma
Pwned.

[Winston Posted Mar 5th 2010 2:31PM]

BT3.0 is on the way, it takes time for it to get into phones. If BT4.0 is approved in Q4 you won't see a device for another year.

[Bratan Posted Mar 5th 2010 3:35PM]

Indeed awesome idea with BT cat! When phone rings cat meows, but you can put it on silent (cat will purr or scratch you if call is urgent)... Although new SMS notification in form of cat's poop in the shoe might be a little too much...

[MattL Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:26PM]

Bluetooth cats are so cute. I just got one a couple of weeks ago.



My bluetooth mouse seems to have disappeared though. I've looked everywhere for that thing.

[mastahc411 Posted Mar 5th 2010 4:47PM]

@MattL
The bluetooth cat will eventually OBEX it to you

[pankomputerek Posted Mar 5th 2010 5:17PM]

Real Remote Controlled Cat, seems cool.

[Slappy Wag Posted Mar 6th 2010 2:13AM]

@Lord Vader

There was already a version 3? Wow... where the hell have I been?

[frothe3 Posted Mar 6th 2010 12:36PM]

I believe there is only one Bluetooth and that is the 2.0 that is out and that everyone and their brother uses. I'm not tech savvy,but I have NEVER read of Bluetooth 3.0 ANYWHERE,and that includes CNET as well.

[EliteGeek Posted Mar 6th 2010 8:45PM]

@Slappy Wag You're not alone. I didn't even know Bluetooth 3.0 came out yet. All the gadgets I've seen recently still use v2.1. Even the latest smart phones still use the 2.1 spec.