Slashdot Mirror
Bluetooth for Linux Released
Bjorn Wesen writes, "A GPL'ed Bluetooth driver for Linux has been released by Axis Communications, supporting the current Bluetooth LAN-profile (PPP over Bluetooth). The download and mailing lists are at their developer site. This will become useful especially for embedded/mobile Linux devices - and to push Linux into the new technology before The Other OS. " Bluetooth has been getting a /huge/ amount of attention from the technical press, as well as the mainstream press. It looks to be one of the most promising standards for short-length wireless communication devices and drivers for Linux is a good thing to get this early in the game.
They've released all their patches (it's a custom 2.0.36 kernel, see their developer page) and they're thinking of switching all their devices from a proprietary, custom in-house os, to Linux (well, maybe not the printer servers, because they have to be very cheap and cannot have megs of RAM) but all their other devices. So if you want to support an upstart company using Linux, buy their stuff =)
They work close together with Ericsson, so I'm not surprised about Axis beeing one of the first with Bluetooth drivers...
(Note: I'm not affiliated with Axis)
GNU/Linux. The Freshmaker.
Its a short range 2.4Ghz frequency hopping networking protocol. Applications are pretty much: Everythign irda was supposed to do but sucked at + audio distribution (IE, your cell phone turns into a landline phone when you're near your computer) + tons of neat-o new stuff (your palmpilot can dial a number on your cell phone).
There is a reasonably good article about it in the latest Dr. Dobbs journal.
www.bluetooth.org is a better site.
The above www.bluetooth.org website is a redirector to a commercial company selling Bluetooth hardware to OEMs. I cannot find any information about Bluetooth on it.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
But there's much new stuff. This Intel page explains a lot of the history behind Bluetooth.
Basically, (the Intel page doesn't say this) some engineers at Ericsson thought about designing a new protocol for communication between their (Ericsson's) devices in 1994, and started developing it. The project wasn't initially called Bluetooth, but "MC link" (MC = Multi-Communicator). But somewhere during the development, they started to realize that the chips needed for this would be much cheaper if it was a widely adopted standard, so they started talking with their arch rival Nokia about sharing the technology and making it a common standard. They formed a Special Interest Group (SIG) in 1998, together with some other well-known companies (amongst others IBM, Intel, Motorola, 3Com, Casio, Cirrus Logic, TDK, Compaq, Dell, Xircom, Lucent, Toshiba, Psion, Qualcomm and Axis).
Last year they released the specification for version 1.0 of the standard. And experimental Bluetooth devices have been built using the standard and shown on various expos last year, and real devices are under development now. I think we'll see many of these devices released this year. That's the brief history of Bluetooth.
Here is also Ericsson's Bluetooth site. Here's the specs.
GNU/Linux. The Freshmaker.
I assume everybody makes mistakes and the site we're all looking for is http://www.bluetooth.net/
Use Adsense for Charity
A lot of the posts here seem to think that bluetooth is for wireless networking. From what I understand thats not entirely the idea. The range is very very short (10m) and thats under good conditions, going through walls is going to cut that range a lot. The idea as I understand it, is too replace a lot of items that currently use infrared (because this doesn't require line of sight, goes a bit farther). That means things like cell phones communicating with PDAs, laptops communicating with printers, maybe someday video game controllers communicating with base units. I can't wait for the day that I can carry my palm in my pocket and have it automatically hotsync with my pc every time I walk close. Thats bluetooth.
Also the other benfit is that it uses a communication system similar to what cellphones use, ie, no crazy modifications of currently manufactured cell phones to make them "blue tooth" compatible, and be able to sync with your palm or whichever.
Spyky
Couple issues that need to be brought up--
1) Compatibility with existing 2.4ghz networks(i.e. 802.11): Apparently, Bluetooth nukes Wireless LANs(source: MicroTimes, about 3 months ago). So, Rob and Jeff are sitting around at a convention, when suddenly their Zoom Air wireless link dies. Rob looks up. "Who's the moron with a bluetooth device?!?"
2) The Resurrecting Duckling. Great paper; look around online and check it out. Talks about security issues with wireless networking. Among other things, you're now *infinitely* more susceptible to somebody "nearby"(think airport) hacking your wireless device--how are ya gonna find 'em, even if you're alerted? 10m, up to 100m with extenders...you're talking about looking for a miniscule wireless extender into a well hidden wired network. Good luck...and lets not forget that with wireless devices, draining the battery is an astonishingly effective DoS attack.
3) Trustable functionality. 10m isn't enough for cordless phones, and I don't think it'll be enough for cordless computing. Has there been any research into the human factors involved with a wireless device that can't leave the room? If you can't trust something to work, you don't use it.
4) Broken encryption. There's no way in hell that Bluetooth has serious encryption built into it, but you can be assured that developers will design their own protocols to assume that the hardware encryption layer will take care of all secrecy concerns. At least with 802.11, you *know* when you're shining out your password publically!
It's sad. I want something like Bluetooth...but the fact that it may kill existing wireless nets--thus, a rogue visitor could kill the LAN!--could possibly make it a tragic non-starter.
Yours Truly,
Dan Kaminsky
DoxPara Research
http://www.doxpara.com
P.S. That being said, I desperately want to get my hands on some Bluetooth devices...
These things do not fill me with confidence.
Disclaimer: I am not a cryptographer. Someone with more clue than me is more than welcome to show me the errors of my ways