What can Bluetooth do?

[Guest mattscholey]

Hi,

Reading about MS Smartphones, there seems to be a lot of excitement about Smartphones with Bluetooth, and a lot of disappointment about smartphones which don't have it. I've only really heard of Bluetooth being used as a handsfree, which has never really appealed to me.

But by reading odds bits of information about phones, I've found out that theres more to Bluetooth then I thought. For example, it can have a range of up to 100m rather than just 10m. This would mean that if I got an E200 and some sort of Bluetooth broadband router, similar to a Wi-fi one I already own, then it would be just like having Wi-fi on my phone - free broadband on my phone from around my home. And I suppose I could use it like I use IR, to send/receive a picture to/from my m8s phone.

So what else could I use Bluetooth for? And if I got a new phone which didn't have Bluetooth (Mio 8390) how much would I regret it?

Thanks,

Matt

[Guest Vector]

You can send files over Bluetooth using Smartexplorer :)

[Guest Smoovey]

Please keep in mind that the Bluetooth capabilities of an E200 are somewhat limited. So even though you might get a Wi-Fi bluetooth enabled router or dongle on your PC; the phone itself will not be able to SEND data back beyond a certain point. I haven't personally tried out Bluetooth on my E200 yet but it does eat battery life quickly from all indications and is limited to a range of 15 meters.

On the plus side you will, in time, be able to play multi-player games with fellow Smartphone users via bluetooth; transfer files, use headsets as mentioned, access Internet connections through a pass-through, ActivSync your E200 remotely and connect with other phones via Bluetooth too. In fact for the majority of those items it is possible now; the others just pending software to be developed that takes advantage of such facilities.

Hope that helps.

[Guest Rob.P]

I wouldn't worry too much about now if I were you, it is still in it's infancy even though it has been out for a long time.

I have in the past few weeks been on a steep learning curve with bluetooth as I just got a BT SD Card for my laptop, so have been experimenting quite a lot with it. Bluetooth on certain Nokias and Sony Ericssons can be bad as recently they have been found tohave a major security prob in that someone can pinch data off of your phone without you knowing. The details on how to do this haven't been released due to security, but if you mess around with BT long enough you will find out how to do it yourself :wink:

It looks to be like it will be v.popular in the coming years as electronic consumer manufacturers are looking at it's PAN (Personal Area Network) abilities to connect all manner of household items together.

Example being imagine in the future bringing home your new flat panel TV, you mount it on your wall then pair the TV to your Entertainment system (an all in one box) and hey presto, TV, Internet, DVD's, Music can then all be piped through your new flat panel. This is the main sort of senario these sort of manufacturers are all looking at/working with. Could be awhile yet, if it's anything like DVD's then as a consumer we will probably have some sort of problem from the consortiums on standards.

At the moment I have my E200, my missus' Siemens and my headset all paired to the laptop, although I can't seem to get the headset to work properly as headset for net communications constantly.

[Guest deepak]

Hi to All.....always wanted to write in this forum on this subject of my personal experiences with bluetooth.....

I have been using wifi in my house and office for more then 2 yrs now and have recently upgradd to 802.11g..

wireless is the key word in using bluetooth or wifi...if u have too many gadgets and want to use less of wires then u only have 2 solutions bluetooth/wifi..

wifi has a better range when it comes to internet surfing wherein bluetooth caries voice very nicely and is sometimes very useful if u have a laptop with inbuilt or attached bluetooth.

lets look at what devices i have personally

1) IBM T41 laptop with wifi and bluetooth built in

2) ipaq 4580 with wifi and bluetooth again

3) ps2 with wifi game adapter

4) smartphone(XPHONE FROM O2) with bluetooth

5)bluetooth headsets HBH-65,motorola,and recently picked up two chineese models in honkong

6)HBH 30 car bluetooth from sony ericsson

7)all my staff caries bluetooth phones of some sort or the other

8)my friends carry bluetooth phones aswell

.....

ok i am not boasting here but world around me is all wireless and i have been responsible in making everyone use it and use it to the best...

i have never ever spoken on the smartphone directly...i have always used a bluetooth headset...(HBH 65) my favourate...

Moment i get into my car and i am playing loud music on my system through my ipod and i get a call...i am not bothered..my music goes to silent mode and my car bluetooth is activated automaticly...as my phone is mounted on a magnetic stand i can see the person calling and decide wether to say yes or no to the caller and here i talk wirelessly enjoying a nice stereo sound with both my hands on my steering driving peacefully.

I cant imagine life without having my headset and guys life is serious fun with no wires and u talking to someone endlessly without even touching your phone.(I make & recieve 100+ calls a day).@ times people are asking you details which all are again stored in your phone...now how do u access them if your phone is on your ear?

Other pleasures come in as bonus viz...activesyncing pim and all data wirelessly...any change made on the phone is always there on my laptop the next second and all my shared appointments or tasks are with my staff in a few minutes from the time i mentioned it on my xphone..

if u have people around using bluetooth transfering small bits of files comes very handy as i recieve a file from my client and give it to my production manager who carries a windows mobile O2 2 and he further makes respective changes and mails it further....

life using this wireless technology has really becoming so essential that at times i feel how will i survive if there is no bluetooth or a wifi connection around ..

ok to tell u all i run an event management company where co-ordination is the key word