In today’s Coredump Session, we unpack the full story of Bluetooth—from its PDA-era beginnings to its rising role in cloud-connected devices. With insights from Memfault’s Chris Coleman and François Baldassari, along with Blecon’s Simon Ford, this wide-ranging conversation explores how Bluetooth Low Energy has evolved, where it thrives (and doesn’t), and why it’s often the right tool, even if it’s not a perfect one. Expect history, hot takes, and practical guidance for building better Bluetooth-powered products.
Key Takeaways:
- Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Bluetooth Classic are fundamentally different—and BLE was never just a “lite” version.
- BLE's strength lies in its low power consumption and quick connection setup, making it ideal for peripheral devices that sleep most of the time.
- Use cases like audio, asset tracking, and cloud sync continue to shape BLE’s evolution, and new specs like LE Audio and PAwR are expanding its reach.
- Bluetooth wins not because it’s perfect—but because it’s practical: globally adopted, low-cost, and well-supported.
- Debugging Bluetooth at scale requires collecting connection parameters, analyzing retries, and understanding phone ecosystem quirks.
- BLE Mesh adoption has been underwhelming, with real-world complexity often outweighing its theoretical benefits.
- Expect to see BLE turn up in more places, including MEMS sensors and energy-harvesting devices, not just consumer gadgets.
- Designers should understand trade-offs in connection intervals, latency, and power draw when choosing Bluetooth for cloud or local connectivity.
Chapters:
00:00 Episode Teasers & Intro
01:10 Meet the Guests: Bluetooth Roots at Pebble, Fitbit, and Blecon
06:51 BLE’s Breakthrough: The iPhone 4S Moment
10:22 BLE vs Classic: Why It Took Off
14:39 Specs That Shifted Everything: Packet Length, Coded PHY & LE Audio
21:41 Is BLE Still Interoperable? And Does It Matter?
28:22 The BLE Cloud Puzzle: Gateways, Phones & Golden Gate
38:40 BLE’s Sweet Spot: Power, Latency & When It Just Works
47:12 Operating BLE Devices in the Wild: What to Track & Why
57:40 Mesh Ambitions vs Reality
Follow Memfault
Other ways to listen:
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!