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Your Steam Controller was secretly Bluetooth-ready this whole time

Bluetooth LE support comes just in time for the Steam Link app.

Gordon Gottsegen CNET contributor
Gordon Gottsegen is a tech writer who has experience working at publications like Wired. He loves testing out new gadgets and complaining about them. He is the ghost of all failed Kickstarters.
Gordon Gottsegen
steam-controller

The Steam Controller.

Valve

Valve released the Steam Controller back in 2015, and while some people chose to use the controller to play their Steam games on PC (others may prefer their keyboard), it apparently had one dormant feature all this time: Bluetooth support.

Years later, Valve is now enabling Bluetooth LE support in its controllers, which means it had the hardware for it all along. (Normally, you pair the controller to a wireless USB dongle.) 

This comes right before the May 21 release of the Steam Link app, which will let you play your library of Steam PC games on your phone (or smart TV) over Wi-Fi. The company says that Bluetooth LE is required for using the Steam Link app with your controller.

Controller support might also make it much more natural to play Steam games on your phone.

For info on how to set up Bluetooth controller support, you can check out Steam's FAQ.

(via 9to5Mac)