I’ve see the Blue light…

and no not the Kmart blue light special.

Bluetooth. I am not sure what the issues with the adoption are, whether it’s marketing or what, but now that I’ve taken a taste from the wireless well there is no going back. I’ve been messing with my phone – sending files, contacts and even calendar items back and forth. Through iSync, I can keep my phone connected wirelessly and in sync with my computer and my Palm (though this still needs to connect via USB… more on that in a sec.) Apple has implemented this extremely well – even with the D-Link adapter I purchased today. I presume it will be at least as good with it built in on my other machine (the adapter will go to our iMac) after the spots are removed…

For some reason, I am beginning to think it is for greedy business reasons, Palm has chosen not to develop drivers for any OS 5 device and their SDIO Bluetooth Card – the ONLY Bluetooth SDIO card even available for Palm. The drivers only support OS 4 and the most recent device supported is the Tungsten W which runs 4.1. I actually tried to get the card today and force the drivers from the Tungsten T to load, but can’t find the card anywhere… I checked 2 Staples, Best Buy and TekServe. No one has it. It’s online, but I was hoping to try this and return it quickly without incurring shipping charges if in fact I would have found it. All the newer devices with it built in are OS 5 and the Sony UX-50 even has wifi and bluetooth together.

Bluetooth allows you to replace cables like USB for basic connectivity but it also allows for device to device connections without having to be within line of sight like infrared and regardless of type (pda, computer or phone…). With some creative software you can use the locality of the technology (10 meters or so in range) to control devices based on your behavior. I’ve just started playing with Salling Clicker which truly enables the digital hub function of your computer. Through bluetooth, you can control all kinds of functions… like locking the system as you walk away, pausing music or movies when your phone rings etc. You can also manually control software like itunes or powerpoint as you might expect a remote to work, though again without line of sight limits.

Through the basic coolness and convenience factor of bluetooth I’ve been thinking about it as a necessary wireless component to any gadget. It’s just too good not to have.

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