Once known only for its audio capabilities, Bluetooth has evolved into a truly versatile wireless communications protocol. Yet the next chapter of Bluetooth sets the stage for audio to make a spectacular return.

With the market for the first wave of wrist-worn wearables starting to mature, now’s the time to start getting creative. Will Levi’s and Google manage to take smart clothing into the mainstream?

Like all communication technologies, Bluetooth is a better fit for some applications than others. If you're considering using Bluetooth, here’s an outline of the primary factors that determine the effective range of Bluetooth communications, plus some ways to improve it with networking. This article is now updated with the addition of Bluetooth 5 performance.

Bluetooth 5’s benefits are about much more than increased speed and extended range. Low energy advertising extensions are also a major enhancement.

Advertisements are used by devices to broadcast data and information that can be discovered and processed by observer devices. This means information can be broadcast to multiple devices at the same time, as opposed to connected Bluetooth devices, which only allow peer-to-peer communication.

These funky light touchpads are a fun way to get to grips with making music. Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity to a smart app means you can get as creative as you want.

With faster speed, longer range and higher bandwidth, Bluetooth 5 might seem like the perfect communications method. Yet with a close look, we can see that although Bluetooth offers important benefits, it’s not all things to all people.

Smartphones play such a key role in most Bluetooth products that their adoption of new Bluetooth features is always eagerly anticipated. The recent announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a major step towards widespread adoption of Bluetooth 5.

Bluetooth 5 has been designed with the next era of connectivity firmly in mind. It promises to revolutionize the scope of how we experience smart connected products going forward, but there are important things to understand about the new specification.

The Internet of Things has come to our Christmas decorations. These Bluetooth-enabled lights cost more but allow an almost endless variety of colors and effects to be controlled from your smartphone. But is it really necessary?