Valve activates bluetooth in Steam Controller

Valve has released a beta version of the Steam Client bringing Bluetooth Low Energy functionality to the Steam Controller. The function can be used to connect the controller to devices without a USB port.

On the Steam website, Valve lists three reasons where using the ble connection is wise. The company calls it connecting to Android or iOS devices, connecting to a laptop or tablet without a USB port, or when the user can’t find their receiver.

In other cases, Valve recommends using the receiver, as it is optimized for the fastest possible connection and works with all common operating systems.

The announcement follows news that Valve is releasing a Steam Link app for Android and iOS that will allow streaming Steam games from a computer to a phone or tablet. It also makes it possible to stream the games on televisions and set-top boxes with Android or Apple TV and the Steam Link box becomes redundant.