Soon, turning off the heat and lights before leaving your house could be as simple as turning a key in a Bluetooth-equipped lock.

This scenario may be possible with the latest Bluetooth wireless technology, which could start appearing in products next year. With the improvements, devices will be able to communicate directly over a longer range and at faster speeds than with current technology.

The range and speed of Bluetooth will continue to increase in coming years as the markets for home automation and IoT grow, said Mark Powell, executive director at standards-setting organization Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG).

The upcoming Bluetooth protocol — which will be released in the second half this year — will quadruple the wireless range and double the speed of the current technology. Bluetooth-SIG members involved usually develop chips in parallel, but it takes a few months until they start appearing in devices, Powell said.

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