(Telecompaper) The Bluetooth Special Interest Group has adopted version 4.2 of the Bluetooth core specification. Updates in 4.2 improve privacy and increase speed, and a soon-to-be ratified profile will enable IP connectivity. The new profile known as Internet Protocol Support Profile (IPSP) enables IPv6 for Bluetooth, opening new doors for device connectivity. IPSP will allow Bluetooth Smart sensors to access the internet directly via IPv6/6LoWPAN. IP connectivity makes it possible to use existing IP infrastructure to manage Bluetooth Smart 'edge' devices. This targets connected home scenarios that need both personal and wide area control. This profile will be ratified by the end of the year. The upgraded privacy settings lower power consumption and make it difficult for eavesdroppers to track a device through its Bluetooth connection without permission. For example, when shopping in a retail store with beacons, unless the user enabled permission for the beacon to engage with the device, they can't be tracked. Bluetooth 4.2 also increases the speed and reliability of data transfers between Bluetooth Smart devices. By increasing the capacity of Bluetooth Smart packets, devices transfer data up to 2.5 times faster than with previous versions. Increased data transfer speeds and packet capacity reduces the opportunity for transmission errors to occur and reduces battery consumption.