Forecasts for the number of IoT devices and sensors that will be in use in the mid-2020s vary, but they are all in the billions. A key driver of such scale will be extremely low cost, disposable devices, which in turn means a need for chips that cost just pence. This has seemed a faraway goal in many markets, but Dialog Semiconductor is promising the kind of price points that will be needed, with its new 50-cent system-on-chip (SoC) for Bluetooth 5.1. This SoC adds Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) functionality to a device for as little as $0.50, a low enough price point to work for a disposable device. The DA14531, more snappily branded the SmartBond Tiny, targets applications such…