Aside from the hi-res screen, tweaked processor and a few other goodies, Apple’s new iPad is the first Bluetooth Smart Ready Tablet, which is a quite a mouthful, but bear with us.

The new tablet incorporates Bluetooth 4.0 technology, which should open up a world of new possibilities for consumers, as well as developers and makers of various peripherals. Bluetooth 4.0 makes the iPad compatible with existing Bluetooth gear, including keyboards, mice and speakers. Basically it will allow users to use their iPads for something a bit more productive than Angry Birds with ease and with existing hardware.

In addition, there are a number of more specialized Bluetooth peripherals, such as heart rate monitors, glucose meters and so on. In addition, the new standards will allow users to control a greater number of Bluetooth enabled devices, from TVs to thermostats.

The new iPad is not the first device to feature Bluetooth Smart Ready support, this distinction goes to Motorola’s RAZR, but the iPad is a more popular platform to say the least. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group believes the new standard will take off with the advent of Windows 8 devices.

Of course, Bluetooth 4.0 is backwards compatible with previous Bluetooth revisions.