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.

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

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

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

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!

A web camera is a real-time camera (usually, though not always, a video camera) whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video calling application.
Web-accessible cameras; typically involve a digital camera which uploads images to a web server, either continuously or at regular intervals. This may be achieved by a camera attached to a PC, or by dedicated hardware. Videoconferencing cameras typically take the form of a small camera connected directly to a PC. Analog cameras are also sometimes used (often of the sort used for closed-circuit television), connected to an video capture card and then directly or indirectly to the internet


One reason it's popular is that digital camera shots don't take much time to download on 14.4 or 28.8-speed modems. Anderson explains that digital technology uses slow-frame video compression. "It uses the essence of analog video and reconstitutes it on the other end, thus cutting the number of bits that are broadcast -- only five to 10 frames a second compared with hundreds." With digital technology, you can program the camera to repeat bits of redundant information, like the Flatirons, in the video stream without actually filming it live until something different comes along.

future of bluetooth

The dominant WPAN today is Bluetooth technology. It is estimated by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) that there will be nearly a billion Bluetooth-enabled devices deployed by the end of 2007—and the rate of adoption is increasing.The initial use of Bluetooth technology was for audio applications, such as mobile phone headsets, where it excels because of its inherent low power consumption. However, the communications protocol was designed for much broader applications. Although there are significant differences in the layering and structure, the lower layers of the Bluetooth technology and the ISO-oriented example are similar. In this example, the WiMedia UWB technology shows it does not currently extend beyond the lowest layers.The speed of the Bluetooth technology is fairly slow by today’s standards. Wi-Fi and 802.11 are developing standards that will allow that technology to reach in excess of 120Mb/s. Today, a current Bluetooth device will go is fast as 3Mb/s. This is appropriate for audio streaming, but not nearly enough for heavy data-oriented applications like video.
The person of your dreams could be just a heartbeat away, thanks to a dating game that alerts you when a love match comes within a few metres of your mobile phone, New Scientist reports.
Using Bluetooth wireless technology — a short-range system built into many mobile phones — would-be daters subscribe to a service that stores a personal profile, their photograph and a wishlist of what they are looking for in a partner.
When the database spots enough similarities between two people who are in close proximity — say, in a shopping centre, office, bar or cafe — the service tells their mobile phones to communicate with each other, sending over a package of details and a picture.
After the help of technology, comes the human bit: deciding whether and how to talk to a complete stranger.
The idea, called Serendipity, is the brainchild of four scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, according to the report in the British weekly.
Their hope is to take some of the roughness out of blind dating.

With Bluetooth technology, potential love matches will "connect" when they are within 10 metres of each other.
Participants can adjust the settings in line with their mood and willingness to meet strangers.
For instance, they may want their profiles to be sent only to friends of friends, and can alter their availability according to their mood or whether they are in a situation for socialising.
AFP

How the future gadgets look like?

The arrival of crisp, high-resolution screens, mass wireless and broadband access, inexpensive multiple-application handheld devices and solid business plans—all long claimed as key elements in developing a mass market for digital reading is the previling topic now.
The internet has sparked a remarkable outpouring of new creativity and provided conventional content owners with exciting new marketplace opportunities.
The following ideas for gadgets of the future are broken into three sections. First, a section with concepts from 2001-2010. Many of these concepts are already in development and will likely become commercially available within the next decade. The next section, 2010-2050, reaches out to explore concepts that could become a part of our lives within the next 50 years. The last section, 2050-2100, is a daring far-reaching look to challenge your own visions of the future.

2001-2010

• Ear mounted telephones are now available and will become even more lightweight and low-powered. They will connect to the net themselves or through a personal digital assistant.
• The development of flexible LCD screens will replace bulky laptop screens with ultra-portable roll-up displays. Home entertainment centers could also use this technology to replace conventional TV and computer monitor displays.
• Faster computer processors will allow for 3-D holographic images to be processed in real time.
• Speech recognition will become a necessity in mobile electronic devices.
• Special pens that capture writing and digitize your messages are available today. They will become more accurate and will connect to personal digital assistants and computers.
• Future personal digital assistants (PDA) will use "rudimentary artificial intelligence". The digital assistants will be highly customized, connected to the net and will communicate with other computers and earphones.
• Future PDAs will have fingerprint, voice, or retinal identification capabilities. They will start to replace ID numbers, credit card numbers and passwords. PDAs will also perform secure e-cash transactions.
• Eyewear will darken and lighten as voltage is sent thought variable-tint lens coatings. Eyewear will shield users from the hectic outside world and contain earpieces that can cancel noise or play sound.
• Cinema films will feature near-perfect animated replications of actors that are alive or already dead.
• Distanced colleagues, relatives and an increasing popularity of videophone sex will drive sales of videophones and internet videophones.
• Motorola is developing on-board vehicle supercomputers that will increase automobile engine efficiency up to 20%.
• Cyberpets, like Sony's AIBO, will perform useful tasks and grow in popularity starting around 2004.
• Analog TV transmissions will be completely replaced by digital broadcasts by 2010. Personal flying cars are currently being developed. They will cost about the same as a Ferrari by around 2006 and could become popular by 2020. Initial models will require only basic training and will provide adequate safety.
• A second-generation swing-wing Concord jet should arrive by 2010. It will attain speeds up to Mach 2.4.

2010-2050

• Quantum encryption will be used to safeguard data. Eavesdroppers will automatically alter a message just by listening to it, revealing their intrusion.
• A "sober-up pill" could be available by 2015. The pill would stop certain chemical reactions of the brain that cause intoxication.
• Communication systems could regularly use virtual reality interfaces by 2030. TVs will also incorporate holography and virtual reality programming.
• Internal combustion engines could be heavily taxed or become outlawed by 2040. Land transport will rely on environmentally friendly alternatives.

2050-2100

• Telepathy helmets will record your feelings and thoughts and broadcast them to a friend wearing a similar setup. Note: Basic telepathy is currently being used to restore muscular communication to paralysis patients.
• Electronic call-girls and call-boys will offer virtual reality sex that realistically stimulates the five senses.
• Quantum computer enabled video games will "achieve new heights of reality". Virtual reality games will tap directly into the brain's sensory system. Suits and helmets won't be necessary. Note: See the offbeat movie, Existenz, recently released on video.
• Teleporting machines could transport objects and live people atom by atom. Note: Teleportation of individual atoms through short trips was achieved in 1999. Also, you can read Michael Chrichton's book, Timeline.
  (COURTESY-http://pages.prodigy.net/imagiweb/reports/file00/jun1.htm)