Tuesday, June 26, 2007

RIVAL FOR BLUETOOTH

Bluetooth is common in many modern mobile phonesA short-range, wireless technology that is more energy-efficient than Bluetooth has been unveiled by Nokia.
Wibree is a new radio frequency technology that can work alongside Bluetooth but using just a fraction of the power.
Bluetooth is commonly found in mobile phones, printers and laptops and is used to transfer data.
"It's up to 10 times more energy efficient than Bluetooth," said Bob Iannucci, Nokia Research Center's head.
More than 500m devices currently contain Bluetooth technology.
Nokia has been developing Wibree for the last five years and will now put the technology through a standardisation process so that the wireless system can be offered to third-party firms.
"Our aim is to establish an industry standard faster than ever before by offering an inter-operable solution that can be commercialised and incorporated into products as quickly as possible," Mr Iannucci said.
Radio chips
Wibree radio chips - which operate over a distance of 30ft (10m) - are also smaller than Bluetooth chips and will suit devices which up to now do not typically have wireless technology built-in.
Watches, health monitors and sport sensors are three of the uses touted by Nokia. The technology is also likely to be used in mobile phones to help prolong battery power.
The new wireless system can transfer data at speeds of up to 1Mbps, about a third of the speed of current Bluetooth technology.
Nokia said it expected the first commercial version of the standard to be available during the second quarter of 2007.
The firm said it expected dual Bluetooth-Wibree devices such as mobile phones to hit the market within two years.
"The challenge is getting industry-wide support for yet another wireless standard, given the overwhelming number of standards in play at the moment its hard to see how companies can justify the research and development commitment to all of them," wireless telecoms analyst Ben Wood at UK-based Collins Consulting told Reuters news agency.
He added: "Bluetooth is clearly not suited to some of the cooler applications like intelligent jewelry, watches - a less power hungry, smaller, cheaper solution will open some interesting new opportunities."
Global sales of Bluetooth chips are expected to be between 500 million and 550 million units in 2006, up from 317 million in 2005, according to market leader CSR.
Bluetooth technology was invented by Ericsson in the 1990s and was given away to the market as an open standard.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

BLUETOOTH WITH WINDOWS

This article describes how to get Bluetooth to run on a Microsoft Windows PC.
Part I: Install Service Pack 2 on your system
Service Pack 2 has additional support for Bluetooth. Check this Microsoft support site for more information about bluetooth and Service Pack 2. (support site).
However, not all Bluetooth devices are supported by service pack 2, so the next task is to ensure that your Bluetooth device is supported or buy one that is. A list of supported Bluetooth devices can be found at Microsoft (supported devices).
Part II: Get your code to work with Bluetooth
The easiest way and the one way that allows you the most control over Bluetooth is to program on top of the Windows Socket 2.0. (A special description of Bluetooth for Microsoft can be found here, it will not help you get started, but it is useful as a reference guide later when you got your first program up and running)
At the moment I will not post a complete tutorial, but instead point to three places on the internet that can get you started on your first Bluetooth Program.
BlueCoveBlueCove is an open source project developed at Intel and allows you to use Bluetooth from Java. It does not implement the entire JSR-82, but some of the functions. They use the Windows Socket API and JNI to translate between C++ and Java. The good thing is that both the Java and the C++ part is open source so you can download the code and look at it.http://sourceforge.net/projects/bluecove/
Lenholgate forumIs a private web page that has an entry about Bluetooth. On the page is published some C++ code for getting you started with Bluetooth, it is really valuable so check it out.http://www.lenholgate.com/archives/000102.html
Windows XP SP2 Platform SDK If you download the SDK for Windows XP SP2 some sample code is attached. One example shows you how to program Bluetooth on top of WinSocket 2.0.SDK for Windows XP SP2
BlueServerI have used the above mentioned resources to implement a multithreaded server in C++. The server listens for incoming requests from mobile phones and spans a new thread and publishes the received data as XML on a local port. At the moment the code is not available online, but if you are interested you can read more about the BlueServer.
Part III: Getting help
There is at the moment no great place to seek help if you get stuck. I can only recommend looking at the links provided above or trying posting your question on experts' exchange.
I do not have the resources to answer technical questions, but do you have any comments or do you know about some relevant pages that describes Bluetooth and WindowsXP please feel free to drop me a line on thomasr@daimi.au.dk
Part IV: Other links and resources
Python and Bluetooth
Draft book dealing with programming for Bluetooth
Slides about programming for Bluetooth from MIT Pervasive Computing Course

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

BLUETOOTH INTERNET

Create a new Bluetooth™ Internet (PAN) account according to the following steps:1. Go to "Main menu"2. Select [TOOLS]3. Select [CONTROL PANEL]4. Select [CONNECTIONS]5. Select [INTERNET ACCOUNTS]6. Select [MORE]7. Select [NEW ACCOUNT]8. Choose [Bluetooth Internet (PAN)]9. Accept the default values, and ensure that on the [SETTINGS] tab, "Prompt me if all the devices in the list fail or list is empty" checkbox is ticked.10. Tap on the [DEVICES] tab > [ADD DEVICE] and select the laptop or PC that you want to connect with. Add the Bluetooth™ account to the current Preferred Group.Pair the phone with the computer1. On the computer: Go to MY BLUETOOTH PLACE, double-click FIND BLUETOOTH DEVICE to search for Bluetooth devices in range. Right-click the icon with your phone's name and select the menu for pairing. 2. When pairing, a code may be needed for both the phone and PC to communicate securely. If no code prompt appears in the PC, use 0000 in the phone when prompted.3. On the computer: The phone icon should now be marked, for example with a check mark, to show that the phone and PC are paired.NOTE: In some Bluetooth™ software, you may have to activate the serial port dedicated to the phone. Go to MY BLUETOOTH PLACE, right click SERIAL PORT and select CONNECT.Connect to the Internet through the Bluetooth™ Internet (PAN) on your computer

Saturday, June 9, 2007

BLUETOOTH IN COMPUTERS

Bluetooth is a radio-frequency communications system designed for connecting devices together. It works a bit like infra red, except that the devices don't have to be in line of sight of one another. It is also more versatile and has more abilities, although its maximum data rate is slower than infra red's maximum.

How is it useful?

Bluetooth is a wonderful boon; these are just a few of its advantages:

  • You can use your mobile phone to connect your notebook or PDA to the internet without even taking the phone out of your pocket.
  • You only have to get into your car and the phone in your bag automatically connects to your car kit.
  • You can share address book, schedule and to do list with your computer automatically, quickly and easily. You just walk into the room where your computer is, and it is done!
  • You can use a handsfree headset without awkward wires getting in the way.
  • And because Bluetooth is a standard, your bluetooth devices will still work if you upgrade your mobile phone, even to a different make.

dding Bluetooth to a Computer

TDK Bluetooth adaptor

Very few computers have bluetooth support built in. You can add it fairly easily, though. There are three main sorts of bluetooth adapters:

  1. PC card units, which are useful for notebook computers,
  2. PCI slot ones for desktop computers,
  3. USB-connected bluetooth "dongles": sometimes with a fitted USB lead.

In general, the USB adapters are the most flexible, because most computers support USB, and you can place the adapter where it will get the best signal, fitting it onto an extension lead if necessary.

There are several makes of bluetooth adapters at a range of prices. All work, but the better ones support more profiles and have better, more reliable drivers. Saving £10 on the price may not seem much of a bargain if you have to spend a whole day getting the thing to work!