The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) gives the final stamp of approval to Bluetooth 5 as the latest version of the wireless networking standard-- one with longer range, faster speed and larger broadcast message capability.

Specifically, Bluetooth 5 promises up to x4 the range, x2 the speed and x8 the broadcast message capability compared to the previous version. As a result it should be able to power whole home and building coverage, enable more responsive, high-performance device and allow for more context relevant solutions. Also included are updates helping reduce potential interference with other wireless technologies, allowing it to coexist with other networking standards within the Internet of Things (IoT).

LuxLive 2016 sees the world's first test of li-fi, the lighting-based networking system developed by Scotland-based pureLiFi, in a live setting-- one featuring the streaming of a video to a tablet.

The li-fi system was connected to the tablet via USB. When Harald stood directly under the Power over Ethernet (PoE) adapted stage lights, a network was quickly detected, although the signal soon started to fade as he moved further from the lights. This means the technology, at least so far, still has a short range. In fact, each li-fi lighting fixture has a range of sixty degrees and 7-8 square metres, and as such multiple enabled luminaires need to be used to widen available coverage.

"Wireless communication is lacking frequency," pureLiFi's Dr. Harald Burchardt tells LuxReview. Li-fi technology has the ability to widen the capacity of our wireless communication options."

The Z-Wave Alliance adds a further security requirement to the Z-Wave certification-- the new Security 2 (S2) framework requires the adoption of strongest levels of IoT security in the industry.

According to the alliance, the S2 framework provides the most advanced security for smart home devices and controllers, gateways and hubs, and will be mandatory for all products receiving Z-Wave certification after 2 April 2017. Developed in conjunction with cybersecurity hacking experts, S2 promises new levels of impenetrability by securing communications both locally for home-based devices and in the hub or gateway for cloud functions.

According to ABI Research, 2017 will mark another milestone in Bluetooth technology through the release of Bluetooth 5 specification, further pushing wireless networking technology as the leading connectivity solution for the IoT.

The analyst forecasts 2021 Bluetooth Smart and Smart Ready device shipments reaching 5 billion units, the result of technical enhancements opening new opportunities, use cases and device types. Outside of mobile space, key IoT market growth areas include smart home and smart lighting, beacons and wearables, among others.

“While smartphones and audio accessories remain Bluetooth’s largest markets, the technology is becoming more attractive to low-power IoT applications,” ABI says. “Though Bluetooth still faces strong competition from the other standards, mesh networking will enable new opportunities for the technology in the smart home, building automation, and emerging IoT markets in which robustness, low latency, scalability, minimal power consumption and strong security are all additional critical requirements.”

The Wifi Alliance certifies WiGig, the wireless networking standard operating in the 60GHz spectrum promising to enable multi-gigabit performance in a variety of short-range applications.

The wider 60GHz band is less congested, and complements the existing 2.4 and 5GHz wifi bands. It transmits data at speeds reaching up to 8Gbps and low latencies, with beamforming aiming signals directly at devices. Signal range reaches 10m-- short, but suitable for wired-grade line-of-sight scenarios both in-room and outside.

WiGig can find use in smartphones, portable PCs, tablets and access points, as well as home entertainment and general CE. ABI research predicts 2017 WiGig chipset shipments will reach 180 million in smartphones, before reaching 1.5 billion in total by 2021.

Netgear presents what it claims is its fastest router yet-- the Nighthawk X10 AD7200, a router featuring a 1.7GHz quad-core processor together with Quad-Stream Wave 2 architecture and 802.11ad wifi.

The result, the company says, is wireless speeds reaching up to 7.2Gbps as powered through tri-band wifi radios operating in the 2.4GHz (802.11n), 5GHz (802.11ac) and 60GHz (802.11ad) bands. In addition, MU-MIMO technology adds simultaneous streaming support, a 160MHz radio doubles wifi speeds to mobile devices and four antennas maximise wifi range and throughput.

Another company first comes in the shape of a 10gigabit port with fibre support allowing for fast backups and streaming from NAS devices. A pair of USB 3.0 ports allow the connection of storage devices, while 6 months of free Amazon Drive handle cloud-based backups.