One of the most used smartphone connectivity feature, the Bluetooth has finally received an important upgrade. The company in charge has announced that the latest version of Bluetooth is called Bluetooth 4.2 and will bring super features like a faster connections, better internet connection and improved privacy control.

Bluetooth has been taken for granted lately, although it’s present in every smart device that uses a wireless connectivity. Being so ubiquitous has made it vulnerable and hackers found ways to break into phones using via Bluetooth. The act of breaking into a phone using Bluetooth connectivity is known as bluesnarfing.

The introduction of beacons by retailers who use it to connect with their customers’ phones and announced relevant alerts has a new issue: how can the users see only the alerts they want to see? That’s where Bluetooth 4.2 comes in. The new version promises to take care of that issue and it will make it harder for beacons to track down phones and send alerts them. We’re talking about users who have not opted for any alerts to be sent on their smartphones.

Also, the new Bluetooth 4.2 has improved the connections with smart devices like fitness trackers and sensors that feature Bluetooth Smart, also known as Bluetooth Low Energy, or Bluetooth LE.
The new Bluetooth 4.2 will have a 2.5 faster data transfer speed, which means that the smart devices won’t have to work as hard and consume the battery of the device itself. You know how long it takes to transfer a file via Bluetooth and by the time it’s ready you’re phone is dead. This is an unpleasant situation Bluetooth 4.2 is trying to avoid from happening.

The new improved Bluetooth 4.2 will be compatible with the IPV6 protocol. This means that the devices that feature the new Bluetooth 4.2 will connect easier to the Internet, especially to the Internet Protocol Support File via IPC6 / 6 Lo WPAN.

This is actually great news for those smart home type sensors because the new specification will allow the users to control their homes via internet.
The new Bluetooth 4.2 will be available starting with the January 2015.