Next Release of Android 4.3 Will Include Bluetooth Smart Support

For a great deal of the past six months or so, Droidsters had been preparing themselves to tuck into some delicious Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie as the very next iteration, but with logs for Android 4.3 popping up across the Interwebs, that notion was knocked on the head late last month.

When Google took to the stage yesterday in its mammoth 3+ hour I/O keynote speech, many presumed Android 4.3 was going to be one of the main topics of conversation. Unfortunately, there was no mention of the forthcoming update to the Google mobile OS, but reports today suggest that it is, at least, heading our way in the near future, and will feature, among other things, support for Bluetooth Smart.

With the logs emerging and rumor mill in full flow, we shouldn’t feel too foolish for thinking Android 4.3 would manifest itself at yesterday’s showpiece, but it looks as though Google is not quite in those advanced stages with it just yet.

Still, with Bluetooth Special Interest Group having sent out a press email yesterday just after the initial Google I/O fanfare regarding an upcoming Bluetooth Smart-supporting update to Android, we shouldn’t have to wait more than a couple of months to see what Android 4.3 will bring to the fore.

Although we know there will be quite a few new features and alterations in line for Android 4.3 besides support for Bluetooth Smart, precious little is actually known of what Google plans to include. Bluetooth Smart, which is advanced in that it offers a comparable communication range to traditional Bluetooth but on less power, is already supported by the likes of Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry, and although Android and Google is usually first to the punch when it comes to newer technologies and hardware, in this case it appears to be trailing.

While Bluetooth Smart will be a welcome feature, the tech world is eager to learn of some of the more exciting new entries to the Android fold, and with I/O still running over at the Moscone Center, now would seem as apt a time as any for such details to emerge.

What kinds of new Android 4.3 features would you like to see in this upcoming update? Please do share your thoughts via the usual mediums below!

Posted in: Android News