Bluetooth Technology

What is Bluetooth ?

Bluetooth is a high-speed, low-power microwave wireless link technology, designed to connect phones, laptops, PDAs and other portable equipment together with little or no work by the user.

Bluetooth is the name for a short-range radio frequency (RF) technology that operates at 2.4 GHz and is capable of transmitting voice and data. The effective range of Bluetooth devices is 32 feet (10 meters). Bluetooth transfers data at the rate of 1 Mbps, which is from three to eight times the average speed of parallel and serial ports, respectively. It is also known as the IEEE 802.15 standards. It was invented to get rid of wires. Bluetooth is more suited for connecting two point-to-point devices, whereas Wi-Fi is an IEEE standard intended for networking.

Why is the technology called Bluetooth

The heart of the Bluetooth brand identity is the name, which refers to the Danish king Harald "Bluetooth" Blaatand who unified Denmark and Norway. In the beginning of the Bluetooth wireless technology era, Bluetooth was aimed at unifying the telecom and computing industries.

Bluetooth can be used to wirelessly synchronize and transfer data among devices. Bluetooth can be thought of as a cable replacement technology. Typical uses include automatically synchronizing contact and calendar information among desktop, notebook and palmtop computers without connecting cables. Bluetooth can also be used to access a network or the Internet with a notebook computer by connecting wirelessly to a cellular phone.

Types of Bluetooth Devices

Bluetooth Dongle

Bluetooth Dongle : Installing a Bluetooth dongle is easy; simply insert the CD that came with it, follow the on screen prompts and then plug the dongle into a free USB port. If you had a Bluetooth compatible laptop you could just plug the dongle into an internet enabled personal computer and check your e-mail, download Windows updates, or transfer files. On the same lines you could also synchronize your PDA with your personal computer and download the latest appointments, e-mails or send text messages.