A “Made For iPod” summit just ended in Shenzhen, China, and with some positive news for all of you in the Apple ecosystem. Apple has confirmed that they are working on providing a new iPod Accessory protocol (IAP) authentication chip that would allow accessories to take advantage of Bluetooth technology as another option for anything sold under the “Made For iPod” brand.

Apple’s plans are to expand the adoption of AirPlay on “Made For iPod” devices, since only about two percent of these provide support for it. Adding the low cost of Bluetooth to the mix would allow the adoption to grow as much as seven times.

Even though Bluetooth 2.0 does support A2DP protocols for audio, 3Mbps would only allow a limited amount of audio and functionality for things like AirPlay. With Bluetooth 4.0+HS being supported by the iPhone 4S and the last generation MacBook Air, the ability to provide full AirPlay functionality through Bluetooth is now something that’s technically less complicated, though it is sad news to see that only newer devices will receive the benefit.

We’re still not sure how long it’ll take Apple and manufacturers to roll this out, but just keep Bluetooth 4.0+HS in mind when purchasing your next Apple product.

Via: iPodNN