Ant vs Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.0 to Overtake ANT+ in Sport & Fitness Devices

According to a new report by market research firm IMS Research (now a subsidiary of IHS), Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth Smart-Ready) is said to overtake ANT+ technology for wireless connectivity in sport gears by 2016.

“The rapid transition from ‘classic’ Bluetooth to Bluetooth 4.0 in smart phones, combined with native support in Apple’s iOS and the expected inclusion in the upcoming Microsoft Windows 8 platform, is set to drive more sports and fitness monitoring device OEMs to look to Bluetooth Smart to provide connectivity with consumer devices,“ explained Lisa Arrowsmith, senior analyst with IMS Research’s Connectivity Group.

“As a result, Bluetooth Smart is expected to be the most utilized wireless technology in sports and fitness devices shipped in 2016.”

“ANT+ has seen some adoption in cellular handsets, from companies such as Sony Ericsson (which has 15 models supporting ANT) and HTC (which has one model supporting ANT). However, in the coming years Bluetooth Smart-Ready is set to show higher adoption in cellular handsets as a rapid transition from ‘classic’ Bluetooth to Bluetooth Smart Ready occurs”.

The company behind ANT is Dynastream Innovations Inc. Dynastream was established in 1998 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Garmin in December 2006, when the company was acquired for $36 million.

Garmin has kept the company as a separate entity, so ANT can be found today in many products from Nike, Suunto, Polar and others, competing with Garmin devices.

Moreover, the ANT+ alliance, formed in 2007 has developed as an ecosystem based on device interoperability between different brands. In order to grow the market. ANT+ has standardized profiles for fitness, health, cycling and more so that two ANT+ devices from different manufacturers can work seamlessly together and exchange heart rate, speed, distance achieved, etc...

As of September 2010 more than 10 million ANT-enabled products had been shipped.