Bluetooth SIG, the organization that oversees Bluetooth development and ensures companies follow its standards, recently announced the new Bluetooth 6 standard. One key feature of Bluetooth 6 is Channel Sounding, which will significantly improve object-tracking solutions.
According to the organization, this innovation brings “true distance awareness, introducing transformative benefits across various applications,” making it easier and faster to locate items. This could be as good as Apple’s Precision Find feature, but for everyone rather than only people with newer Apple devices.
While Bluetooth SIG expects Channel Sounding to start expanding in two to three years, the organization is now focusing on another function that could finally become mainstream by next year: Auracast.
Auracast is a new protocol introduced a few years ago with Bluetooth 5.2. It enables shared audio experiences that offer fast pairing with unlimited devices. This could be perfect for conferences, museums, parties, and anything that could benefit from audio experiences for the masses.
Bluetooth SIG highlights roadmap, new features, and more
In a recent talk with BGR, Chuck Sabin, senior director for marketing development, and Henry Wong, senior manager for marketing development at Bluetooth SIG, explained the organization’s roadmap and how they see the future of connected devices with wireless communication improvements.
For example, Wong tells BGR that we should expect Auracast solutions for public venues in the first half of 2025. While he doesn’t tease what companies will offer these experiences, Chuck Sabin says this is all “a matter of time,” as “the infrastructure that enables these possibilities are coming to the market right now. Several iconic locations are working to implement Auracast: theaters, cinemas, opera houses, and so on.”
So far, Auracast impressions have been limited to Bluetooth SIG demonstrations at big tech shows, such as CES and IFA. “Part of our role is to demonstrate the vision of what’s possible and then highlight the companies that are building products with these technologies. We just did that at IFA,” says Sabin.
With a projection of over five billion Bluetooth-enabled devices being released in 2024 alone, I questioned why some of these features take so long to become available to the public. With the recently announced Bluetooth 6, Apple, for example, is promoting devices with Bluetooth 5.3—even though it doesn’t mean the company enables some of the latest perks, such as Auracast, Bluetooth LE, and so on.
They tell me that after Bluetooth announces a new standard, companies take one to two years to add it to their products. However, some manufacturers deliver the new standard and don’t turn it on. “Samsung S23, S24, and Flip devices all support Auracast. They didn’t at the release, but later, Samsung released a firmware update that turned it all on.”
Channel Sounding and Digital Keys are Bluetooth’s next priorities
With Auracast finally taking off early next year, Bluetooth SIG will focus on Channel Sounding and Digital Keys. The organization believes these two features will greatly improve our lives with find-my capabilities, the ability to unlock lockers and cars safely with Digital Keys, and also enable higher data throughput with Bluetooth LE.
That being said, users should see companies introducing devices with Channel Sounding, higher data transference through Bluetooth, and even wireless communication in higher bands in the coming years.
“In 2025, we’re emphasizing LE Audio and Auracast capabilities, pursuing Channel Sounding experiences, Digital Keys support, and find-my solutions throughout 2025,” Sabin tells me.
You can find a list of devices that already support Auracast technology here.
