Bluetooth Thread

nebagakid

Well, considering the Technology Preview One for Bluetooth will be coming out in the next month, and the adapter is already out, I would like to discuss Bluetooth.



I was at some Bluetooth peripheral site and it said that there was a Bluetooth adapter for a Parallel port on a printer, my printer, i use the USB, but i could use the Parallel port.



How else will this help our lives, instead of just using AirPort?

hmurchison

Therein is the problem. Bluetooth has so much hype but how will it change my life and make it easier. Unless a killer app arrives Bluetooth could be another Solution looking for a Problem.

harald

I'm named in honour of Bluetooth, so this gives me god-given right to act like an expert



OK, let's nail the Bluetooth v. Airport thing straight away: 802.11b is LAN, and Bluetooth is PAN (personal area network) ... they're not rivals, but complementary ... one's a replacement for ethernet cables and the other's a replacement for peripheral cables. AND Bluetooth won't change your life ... neither did Airport. It just made things cooler for you. It has smaller bandwidth and smaller range. And WAY lower power consumption (erm an Airport enabled Palm or mobile phone anyone?) Individual things are "paired" and then need no further maintenance ... this is NOT a network technology. The idea is to get $5 Bluetooth chips into everybloodything and then pair them up as according to working practice and imagination. (Fridge --> PC --> toilet bowl etc.)



Unplug your powerbook from the DSL. Open up your powerbook on the train, and hit connect -- and it will connect via yer GPRS cellphone in your bag without any further anything ("Automatic" in the location settings on OS X will see to that). This is cool.



Walk into your office holding your Palm. Hit connect and it'll be synch'd before you sit down. Or synch it from the porch if you're near enough. This is cool too.



In the future, I can imagine very Apple-like keyboards and mice that don't even need plugging in. Or a digital camera that downloads to iPhoto without being plugged in. All of it cool.



Latest research suggests it might not permit peace in the middle east or anything. But it's very Apple and very cool, esp. if you think about the digital hub and the "we make the widget philosophy" and it WILL be everywhere until something cooler comes along. But that won't happen for, like, MONTHS.

aquatic

Hey, maybe Apple will make a Pro Mouse!



Oh. I mean, the Pro Mouse will be re-branded as an iMouse (okay, it'll sound better) and ship keep shipping with the iMac, while the Pro Mouse will actually be a Pro Mouse!



Cordless optical anyone? I love my new Logitech Cordless Optical, but the reciever is a pain to haul around. That little bluetooth adapter is MUCH nicer



Maybe the new Pro Mouse will finally have two buttons, and a clickable scroll wheel, all while being cordless and optical!

stepson

Does anyone even make bluetooth mice and keyboards? As far as i know, its just cell phones and some PDAs... not super useful (I own neither, and even if i did, what would the chances be its bluetooth enabled?)



But, a wireless keyboard and mouse would be cool, but only if logitech, or someone else, stepped in with a 3 button scroll-wheel mouse, because I wouldn't want to switch back to the apple pro mouse, wireless or not.



Does anyone know if bluetooth supports something like channels? If you had 2 bluetooth enabled macs, and both had these fabled bluetooth keyboards, would the adapter or software know which keyboard is supposed to talk to which mac?

cosmo

Wouldn't a wireless mouse need batteries (i haven't seen one that doesn't)? Something has to power the optical thingy and the transmitter. Batteries in a mouse seems very un-apple like. I love my logitech wireless mouse, but i don't know if apple would do this.

skip_112

[quote]Does anyone know if bluetooth supports something like channels? If you had 2 bluetooth enabled macs, and both had these fabled bluetooth keyboards, would the adapter or software know which keyboard is supposed to talk to which mac? -- stepson <hr></blockquote>



Each Bluetooth enabled product (PDA, Cell Phone...etc) is recognized individually and has a unique signals. So signals won't cross each other as well it is done for safty purposes. So that one PDA can't recieve others info unless it is set to recieve the signal of the PDA.



[ 04-03-2002: Message edited by: skip_112 ]</p>

harald

&lt;speculation&gt;



Expect to see a very Apple way of charging powered wireless peripherals at some point ... consider the iPod's built-in battery as a pointer for design / function direction.



&lt;/speculation&gt;

niji

[quote]Originally posted by Harald:

In the future, I can imagine very Apple-like keyboards and mice that don't even need plugging in. Or a digital camera that downloads to iPhoto without being plugged in. All of it cool.

Latest research suggests it might not permit peace in the middle east or anything. But it's very Apple and very cool, esp. if you think about the digital hub and the "we make the widget philosophy" and it WILL be everywhere until something cooler comes along. But that won't happen for, like, MONTHS.[/QB]<hr></blockquote>



months from now? sony has digital cameras that are already bluetooth enabled, and mobile phones picking up the signals. it has new (last month) clie with bluetooth modules. apple just needs to copy sony. IF it can.

feast yr eyes:

<a href="http://www.SonyEricsson.co.jp/product/au/c413s/index.html"; target="_blank">http://www.SonyEricsson.co.jp/product/au/c413s/index.html</a>;



<a href="http://www.sony.jp/CLIE/PEG-NR70/index.html"; target="_blank">http://www.sony.jp/CLIE/PEG-NR70/index.html</a>;



a full page of sony products for the digital lifestyle NOW:

<a href="http://www.sony.jp/products/bluetooth/index.html"; target="_blank">http://www.sony.jp/products/bluetooth/index.html</a>;



and just for fun and if you have time, the coolest index page in the world:

<a href="http://www.SonyEricsson.co.jp/"; target="_blank">http://www.SonyEricsson.co.jp/</a>;



apple is the not the leader. apple is a me-too-er, albeit usually second in the throng.



apple cant hurry up because it has such minimal market share. even if one-third of all its market bought these great products on a revamped and accelerated launch plan, and one third of its market bought new systems every three years, it still couldnt get enough people to hit enough speed to justify a faster launch pace. 1/3 of 3% does not allow for great new products to pay off and minimization of risks. timing is everything, especially to bottom line profitability and its share price at apple.

solo

Bluetooth sounds great but why the hell do I have an irda port on my laptop? why not make everything run off that? Why use it in the first place?

wmf

Holding my cell phone so that it's lined up with the irda port is a real pain. Give me Bluetooth any day.

harald

[quote]Originally posted by niji:

<strong>



months from now? sony has digital cameras that are already bluetooth enabled, and mobile phones picking up the signals.</strong><hr></blockquote>



Hey there,



Yes I know. Misunderstanding ... it'll be (like) MONTHS before the replacement to Bluetooth comes out. Gentle tech-related irony. Big headed Harald's had a prototype Bluetooth-enable phone for almost a year.

jeremiah rich

[quote]Originally posted by solo:

<strong>Bluetooth sounds great but why the hell do I have an irda port on my laptop? why not make everything run off that? Why use it in the first place?</strong><hr></blockquote>



Because 1) It requires line of sight view. and

2) It is VERY slow. Now correct me if I am wrong, but I believe it is under 1 megabit... About the speed of a 128k (ISDN) modem...

Bluetooth is not "blazing fast" but it is not pitifully slow either and will be a great all purpose protocol. Heck, I want the printer thing. It will eliminate a nice big cord there, and make it easier to move things around.