In a move to bolster its Machine to Machine (M2M) strategy, Texas Instruments has announced 10 new Bluetooth low energy (BLE) profiles, updates to its BLE-Stack, and a new development kit. This includes sample applications which TI hopes will inspire developers to use Bluetooth in more future designs.
The firm says the new profiles and tools should help developers come out with viable products for the “Internet of things,” faster, whilst also allowing for early interoperability testing. For consumers, what this means is a whole array of potential new wearable fitness products, from heart rate monitors to blood pressure sensors and health thermometers, all linking to one device via Bluetooth.
It also opens the way for remote controls, accessory keyboards and dozens of other accessories.
Indeed, so keen is TI to push its Bluetooth technology out into the world that it’s even offering it royalty-free to anyone using TI’s CC2540 Bluetooth low energy system-on-chip (SoC). For developers interested, the BLE-Stack is available here and a corresponding CC2540DK-MINI development kit is available on TI’s e-store. An updated CC2540DK development kit will be released in mid-September, the firm says, adding that the update will include RF performance assessment and packet-sniffing testing.
