Bluetooth 4.0

[protobiont]

No one seems to be talking about this little feature...

Apparently, the 4s is the first mobile phone to feature BT 4.0, it has a real low power draw, and it could be used similarly to NFC.

Some questions and thoughts for the knowledgeable on the forums.

Questions:
1) Is does BT 4.0 do everything that earlier iterations of BT did but with lower power, or is it only low power for certain functions?
2) With regards to NFC, does BT 4.0 have the same security advantages?
3) Besides, pairing with other devices and possible a payment system, what other things can me done with BT 4.0?
4) Is the power draw low enough that it can be left on all the time with no real consequences?

Thoughts:

1) I like the idea of phone based payments - let's hope Apple jumps on this soon, cause if they're going to compete with Google wallet and NFC, they need to act before Google gets too much momentum.

2) The other cool thing I'd like to see is the use of this to allow inter-device picture (or other file) transfer, between iphones or future ipads, when a wifi network is unavailable.


And found a good article on the topic.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I wonder about this as well. Of course the BT in the iPhone 4S is backward compatible with normal full-power Bluetooth devices, I don't expect to see any benefit or advantage with those uses.

I'd love to see a low-power Bluetooth interaction with a future iPod Nano - things like alerts, caller ID, text messages, etc. I'd wear a Nano as a wristwatch if it provided a remote wireless display for my iPhone's basic alert functions. I have no idea if this is feasible or not.

 

[protobiont]

I wonder about this as well. Of course the BT in the iPhone 4S is backward compatible with normal full-power Bluetooth devices, I don't expect to see any benefit or advantage with those uses.

I'd love to see a low-power Bluetooth interaction with a future iPod Nano - things like alerts, caller ID, text messages, etc. I'd wear a Nano as a wristwatch if it provided a remote wireless display for my iPhone's basic alert functions. I have no idea if this is feasible or not.

I forgot about the watch thing! I was actually getting excited when they started the ipod nano section of the keynote and showed the watch. Why the heck didn't they do that? Would've been awesome...

 

[NorfolkMustard]

BT4 won't be used for contactless payments, too much money spent by retailers on NFC/RFID already.

 

[protobiont]

BT4 won't be used for contactless payments, too much money spent by retailers on NFC/RFID already.

Perhaps you are correct, however in the article I linked to:

And this is where it gets interesting. Because part of the pre-iPhone 4S hype focused on the fact that Apple would include NFC tech and thus jump-start the entire wave-and-pay system. But it didn't show, probably because Apple thinks the system's not yet mature enough. But BT4 is mature, to the point where Apple--fastidious to the Nth degree when choosing hardware--chose that particular brand of chip. Could Apple be planning on pulling off a bizarre coup and start a wireless pay revolution that uses BT4 instead of NFC? All it would need would be a hardware manufacturer on tap to do the interface to a cash register and EFTPOS system, and a specialized app. Unlike trying to pull off this trick years ago, there's now momentum behind the "wave and pay" type of system, and the consumer is warming to the idea.

Plus there're a few technological reasons it makes sense: In some ways BT4's longer-range sensitivity and the fact it can in many cases handle a faster data rate than simple NFC setups lends the tech much better toward some of the advanced wave-and-pay ideas that Apple's been patenting. For example, say a store offers you a discount on the understanding that when you wirelessly pay, it can upload a branded screensaver to your device. See? That's no joke.

 

[mrapplegate]

After reading the wikipedia article, it looks very promising. Like Thunderbolt in other Apple products, we will have to wait to see products use it, such as headsets.
I'm not sure if NFC hardware will use it or not. Time will tell.