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Bluetooth For Ungeeks
What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth is a technology for wirelessly connecting devices over short distances, including cell phones, headsets, computers, handheld computers (PDAs like a Palm Pilot), keyboards, mice, cameras, and a list of other devices which is growing all the time. Bluetooth is commonly used to connect two device to communicate with each other, such as a cell phone and wireless headset. But it also allows communication between several devices in a small wireless network.
No introduction on Bluetooth would be complete without the obligatory mention of how it got its name, so here goes: Bluetooth was named after King Harald Blatand who ruled Denmark in the 10th century. My Norwegian is not very good, but apparently Blatand means "bluetooth" in English. Blatand was famous (at least in Scandinavia) for bringing together warring tribes in the areas of what is now Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In a similar way, Bluetooth the technology was created to bring together or unite many different device technologies. And maybe to bring together warring "mobile phone" companies since the primary members of the Bluetooth consortium included the big cell phone companies such as Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola as well as computer companies such as IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba. Curiously, no-one seems to want to mention how Harald got the name "Bluetooth" in the first place, leaving me to speculate on dental hygiene issues best left unsaid after all.
In order to use Bluetooth for its various applications I will discuss shortly, a device such as your cell phone must have a special Bluetooth chip inside. Fortunately, because Bluetooth is a low-cost technology we are seeing more products being released which support Bluetooth. Your Bluetooth-enabled coffee pot cannot be far off in the future. (Actually, maybe that's not so crazy--I could check the level of coffee in the coffee pot from my desk). Bluetooth supports a number of different services, also called "profiles". For example, the service that is used to make a phone call using a Bluetooth wireless headset and a cell phone is called the "Hands Free Profile". Some devices like the headset are special purpose and only support one or two profiles, because that's all that makes sense. Currently, even cell phones don't support all the available services, but that will change over time and all phones will be expected to support the common services.
Benefits Of Bluetooth
- Eliminate cables: The most obvious benefit of Bluetooth is to eliminate the one or more set of wires that seem to come with every consumer device or gadget you might think of connecting to a computer. Bluetooth allows you to free yourself from headset and headphones wires, as well as eliminate tangling and unsightly cables on your desktop which connect devices like your mouse and keyboard to your computer.
- Low cost: The cost is lower than for other wireless technologies, and similar to the cost for wired connections (you may have noticed: computer cables are not all that cheap). So for about the same cost it is often better to have the convenience of having no wires.
- Low power: Bluetooth can be "always on", but uses a variety of geeky electronic tricks to keep power consumption very low. I can go at least a week without charging my Bluetooth headset.
- Convenient and standard: For example, if you want to connect to a different device, you won't need a different cable or adapter. A Bluetooth-equipped device can talk to any other Bluetooth device as long as it supports the service you want to use. And these services will become more standard and common as time goes on.
- Security: Since wireless communication goes out over the air, there is always the possibility of someone "snooping" on your private (or perhaps then, not-so-private) communication. Bluetooth has security built into to its core to make it extremely difficult to listen in on your communication. For one thing, the radio signal hops around on 79 different frequencies, 1600 times a second making it very hard to track. Devices can also be "paired", where a user must enter a secret passkey, typically a 4-digit number like a pin number for your ATM card. Without the proper pin code, the connection is refused.
- Communicate through walls: Bluetooth operates at radio frequencies that can pass through walls and other obstructions. This is similar to WiFi, but infrared beaming, for example, cannot pass through walls. This could useful in your home, but is also important for places which may want to use Bluetooth for business applications.
Bluetooth Applications
I have already touched on some of the common applications, but here is a list of some of the many ways Bluetooth can be used:
- As mentioned previously, one of the most common application applications currently is using a Bluetooth heaset to talk through your cellphone, allowing very comfortable phone conversation without dangling wires or tangles, talking with your phones pressed against your heard cradled on your neck.
- Transfering pictures form your camera phone to your computer. This is more convenient than plugging into your computer and without the cost or hassle of sending pictures to your email account over your cell phone provider's netork.
- You can exchange also exchange pictures, as well as ringtones, wallpaper and songs with friends or family who have a bluetooth phone. You don't need a computer or even a cell phone connection to do this. Let's say you are a government agent being held prisoner in a secret fortress on a Carribbean island that doesn't have cell phone coverage, not even that Verizon guy who's almost everywhere. You could use Bluetooth to exchange ringtones with the prisoner in the room next to you. Although in that case they would probably take away your phone and maybe exchanging the latest ringtone is not your biggest concern in that case. Ok, so my analogy was not that great--maybe instead we should imagine that it's just you and your friend passing time on the subway by exchanging ringtones and wallpaper from the latest popular artists.
- Wirelessly connecting peripherals to your computer or laptop. Peripherals is the name for all those things you are obligated to connect to your computer to actually be able to do anything useful. A number of those devices now support wireless connection to your computer using our friend Bluetooth, including mice keyboards and printers. It may seem like no big deal at first to worry about removing the few feet or inches of cable to your computer, but once you've tried it, removing the clutter, tangles, and unsightliness oc cables makes for a more enjoyable user experience.
- Wireless stereo headphones. This one alone is enough to sell me on Bluetooth. I hate wrestling with headphone wires, especially when traveling. Also, when I want to listen to music at my desk, I have to hope the wires are long enough to reach from my chair to the back of the computer, and I get tired of explaining to my coworkers why I am sitting under my desk. I won't even go into those moments of physical comedy when you forget you have headphones on and try to move away from your desk.
- Wireless gaming. Bluetooth is now being used for wireless game system controllers such as the Nintendo Wii or to rock out wireless on Guitar Hero. Because if you are serious about pretending you are a rock star with a fake, plastic guitar, you may as well pretend you are a rock star with a wireless (fake, plastic) guitar.
- There are more applications for connecting devices wirelessly, and more coming in the future, including:
- Digital cameras, to download photos to your personal computer or even directly to a photo printer.
- Connecting to a Bluetooth enabled car for safer hands-free talking or listening.
- Connection to GPS devices.
- MP3 players. You should be able to download songs from all kinds of places and things, maybe even your refrigerator. Don't laugh--it may be coming.
Hopefully I've given you a good introduction on what Bluetooth is all about. In the near future, it is likely that Bluetooth usage for connecting wireless devices will be so common that people will wonder why we ever used wires.
