Bluetooth

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

I'm sure that by now that everyone's heard about Bluetooth, but is there anyone out there who is still a little unsure on how to use it, how it works or what it is? I thought I’d give a little info on it, seeing as it is such a great addition to our gadget collections.

Bluetooth basically provides a connection and exchange of information between various devices. This includes computers, laptops, printers, digital cameras, mobile phones, hands free kit and even video game consoles. It does this via a secure short-range radio frequency. I will not be going into too much technical details, but I will say that the devices use low-cost transceiver microchips, as I find that piece of information quite interesting. In order for two Bluetooth devices to communicate with each other, they have to be in range of one another. It even works in separate rooms.

The wireless technology which is being used in the Nintendo Wii and the new Playstation 3 is actually also Bluetooth. I was in Hamlys the other day and saw a demonstration on the LEGO Mindstorms NXT, which I think I should write about as well, but even these very cute and entertaining lego robots use Bluetooth. It looks like Bluetooth is there to not only help along our games and gadgets, but is also looking at replacing the traditional wired serial communications in medical equipment.

I myself am very happy with my Bluetooth devices. We use a USB Bluetooth dongle to enable Bluetooth on our desktop, although most new PC’s now have built in Bluetooth. I use it often to transfer home made ring tones and wall papers to my PDA. Seeing as in a time span of one week my windows crashed on me three times and I could not get my PDA software to work after that, the Bluetooth is now my only means of connectivity.

Here is a little trivia about Bluetooth. It was first developed in 1994 by Sven Mattison and Jaap Haartsen. At the time, they were working for Ericsson Mobile Platforms in Lund, Sweden. Bluetooth is also known as IEEE 802.15.1.

There have been a few versions of Bluetooth already and the future holds even newer ones, with more high tech security encryption.

When using your Bluetooth device, is some cases you need an authentication key to connect the devices. This is a newer security measure. If you have had your mobile phone for a while, it might not need an authentication key or password to form a connection.

A word of advice, if you leave your Bluetooth switched on, on your mobile phone, it will suck up your battery power!

A great addition to the world of gadgets, it has helped us all enjoy a wire free world where we can easily enjoy all our gadgets simultaneously 

Happy Shopping!

Bluetooth Totally Explained