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Bluetooth Gets Faster & Requires Less Power
An anonymous reader writes "The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (BSIG) has announced a new specification named "Enhanced Data Rate" or EDR for short. EDR aims to provide faster data transmission and reduce the power consumption from traditional Bluetooth technology. The data speeds will be roughly three times faster which means you could easily use multiple Bluetooth devices simultaneously. The reduced power consumption also means longer battery life and less heat generated. The new EDR standard will be backward compatible with the current standard Bluetooth devices. This makes upgrading to the new standard effortless."
... but I'm having to fight a little too hard to find neat things to do with Bluetooth. I made my laptop connecton the net once with my cell phone... but.. uh yeah.
A faster Bluetooth. With my Sony Ericsson T616 speeds are laughable and slow and maybe now Bluetooth will finally be able to maximize its potential and actually start to compete with other wireless specs.
And the power consumption. A gift from the heavens. Bluetooth lowers my cellphones standby to about a 8 hours with no calls.
... now I can move my bed even farther away from my desk and still be able to use my wireless keyboard. Rock.
You could pick up toothing.
________
Entranced by anime since late summer 2001 and loving it ^_^
With all the new wireless technologies coming out, (wireless USB, wireless IEEE 1394, etc.) will this be enough to save the failing bluetooth. I use a Microsoft BlueTooth keyboard and mouse and while it is the best keyboard and mouse combo I've ever used, the lack of market saturation cost me $160.
"Here's a spoiler: You're will die alone."-Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
Oh man, I thought I was so slick getting BlueTooth built into my PowerBook... Now I need a dongle :-(
Good news for bluetooth for sure. The backwards compatibility is a really nice touch too. Bluetooth was lacking any upgrades for some time really, but reducing power consumption, while making it much faster was a really good change. One of the problems people faced with bluetooth was the data transfer speeds (excluding the range of it compared with wifi). This could allow bluetooth to become much more popular than it has been in the past...
By compressing more data per packet, do they just mean they are using a better compression algorithm, or larger packets? The first should only help a little and for some uses, the second could theoretically make a lot more of a difference. But the less-power usage will be good anyhow.
Bluetooth is not making the best headway in USA. Especially vs. 802.11. I got a laptop at work which is HP with bluetooth. There is nothing I ever walk past that has any bluetooth on it.
I am suspecious that both better data rate, and lower power stinks of a marketing specification moreso than an engineering one. Probably too late for bluetooth in USA, relatively speaking.
I could be wrong.
but I'm having to fight a little too hard to find neat things to do with Bluetooth.
Obviously you haven't been paying attention to the latest anonymous sex trend with Bluetooth nicknamed "toothing".
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Isnt bluetooth dead?
Or can I just upgrade my Bluetooth dongle firmware?
???
Only Steve knows for sure...
Now that bluetooth is considered a more mature specification since they managed to make a specification update without having to break backward compatability.
Maybe it is time for more bluetooth enabled printers and external devices. I wouldn't mind keeping the printer in the other room.
Push harder towards Open Media/Content
It should be well known by now that Nintendo is putting 802.11 and Bluetooth on the Nintendo DS. I am quite curious if this will make it there, as the DS would benefit from this GREATLY. Nintendo is downright vicious when it comes to defending battery life of their handhelds, so it's entirely possible.
We can always hope, right?
What we need is a truly wireless desktop. Bluetooth is nice, but there are still power cords everywhere, or lots of batteries to replace or recharge. I'd like to have a single DC power standard, and a transfer mechanism for getting that power to my peripherals. Some sort of pad that you sit things down on (your cell phone, mouse, keyboard, PDA, whatever) so they get charged when you aren't using them. Now that'd be something I'd pay for.
The IEEE standard for Bluetooth is 802.15.3. The 802.15.3a standard is a revision for the standard using UWB signaling. It promises data rates of > 100Mbps plus lower power.
why is it that this sounds like an advert from The Bluetooth Special Interest Group? nothing like the slashdot geeks to drum up some preorders for usless technology
I was explaining a file format to a friend recently. He said, "is that like bluetooth or something?" I was a bit stumped. After I explained what bluetooth was, he said, "why the hell would I want that? Can't the wifi I've got do all that?" And so on for about 5 minutes...
Of course, it's not his fault, as much as the dubious packaging of blutooth-enabled products vendors...
Looks good for your age..
Oh you tought that did you? Maybe you should tink again.
vampirical
Maybe now I can leave bluetooth active on my cellphone 24/7 and not wake up with a dead battery. Although, people can hack into phones now with bluetooth and steal/change your address book. Scary.
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artlu.net
In my opinion, Bluetooth has been much more plagued by lack of adoption than speed and power consumption. USB was immensily popular before it became fast. It's popularity is what spurred it to become faster. I would love to get a bluetooth phone or PDA, or wireless keyboard or wireless mouse to connect with the internal bluetooth in my powerbook, but options are limited, which is driving costs way up. We need more options, and we need costs to be driven down. Thats not going to happen until more manufacturers adopt it.
Dammmit, not another Bluetooth standard, now I have to upgrade my P-P-P-Powerbook.com Bluetooth mouse:
Photo: www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/images/g4 resized/bluetoothmouse1.jpg
A friend of mine mentioned to me the other day that some phone companies (like sprint) are being very cautious about offering bluetooth support in their phones because bluetooth makes it so easy to share the internet connection on the phones. A lot of the phone companies (like sprint) are offering unlimited internet plans, and bluetooth phones would lead to a lot of abuse with people using the connections for their laptops instead of their cellphones. Anyway, it is one of the reasons that bluetooth adoption isn't taking off as fast as it should.
I guess my point is that there is nothing else available right now that does what Bluetooth does. Market adoption is *increasing*, if slowly. Bluetooth is far from failing. The truth is that right now, it's the only game in town. More personally, I love it and use it every day. My heart wouldn't be broken if something better replaced it, but in the meantime, improvements like lower power and faster data transfer are welcome.
Boom Shanka
They ARE going to include Helix with it, RIGHT?
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
with all this advancement in digital , we might oneday be able to simulate a CB ! who knows one day we might be able to talk to other people using it and stuff....oh wait
Music and movie legend Ray "Prince" Charles passed away among family today at age 73. In his last few years, Charles had been a fervent supporter of the Open Source developer community. He organized events to support the community such as the benefit party for Bruce Perens after his dismissal from Compaq. "I share Bruce's vision" he said at the time. Little did Perens and Charles of the dark days that laid ahead of them.
Truly an American icon.
"traditional Bluetooth technology"
The killer app for BlueTooth will be a BlueTooth enabled key fob that you hang on your keychain. Lost your keys again? Just dial a magic key sequence on your cell phone, which then sends out a BlueTooth transmission. This wakes the key fob, which begins beeping loudly. Now you just walk to the sound and pick up your keys.
The real thing which makes this a killer app is that any BlueTooth enabled device can be used to find your keys. A cell phone is simply the most convenient.
It works the other way, too. Suppose you've lost your cell phone in your bedroom somewhere. Pick up your keychain, press the little button on the key fob, and your cell phone starts ringing.
It might be kind of irritating on a bus or train, however, if some wanker walks in with an activator and all of a sudden 300 peoples' key chains start beeping! :-)
The issue with regards to me adopting bluetooth has been more about the absurd pricing of said peripherals. The Linksys Bluetooth desktop (and not the fancy-shmancy Nuvo or whatever the hell it's called) runs like a hundred bucks, whereas the plain old wireless one runs for closer to $50. That's not an insubstantial difference.
After a brief glance at Amazon, it also looks like you can't get BT phones unless they're for AT&T or T-Mobile. Considering that GSM coverage here in the USA seems to be kinda spotty compared to, say, TDMA, that's a serious drawback.
The problem with BT right now is that it's an integration technology, yet it's difficult to use an integration technology that doesn't have wide-spread usage.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
EE Times
eWeek
Slashdot
Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
Bluetooth group preps 2.1Mbps spec By Tony Smith Published Thursday 10th June 2004 10:38 GMT Bluetooth communications are set to get rather faster with a new version of the specification that takes its data throughput 2.1Mbps in the offing. The new version, Bluetooth Enhanced Data Rate (EDR), is offered as a "prototype specification" by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). The technology increases data transmission by compressing more data into each packet rather than by increasing the rate at which packets are sent. Today's devices support speeds of up to 712Kbps. Bluetooth EDR will use existing Bluetooth 1.2 technology for connecting devices and sending data, so older devices will still be able to communicate with machines supporting EDR. The SIG says EDR will consume less power than the current version - it reckons EDR devices will eke out battery power for twice as long as Bluetooth units do today. And the new specification also provides improved facilities to use several functions or devices simultaneously, due to more available bandwidth. The Bluetooth SIG expects the EDR specification to be finalised this coming Autumn. Products based on the specification are set to ship some time in 2005. The SIG needs to come up with improved versions of the spec if it's to prevent Bluetooth becoming overshadowed by UWB-based technologies such as the 480Mbps Wireless USB. WUSB's first spec isn't due until the end of the year, and even if it's implemented quickly, Bluetooth has a considerable lead in terms of the number of devices that support it.
There's so much "crap" out there about "bluetooth is dead, long live 802.11", or "everything will be 802.11" or "elvis works at my local 711".
They are complimentary, remember that Bluetooth was designed _specifically_ as (a) single chip solution, (b) low power, low cost, low size, (c) a short range point to point data replacement.
Until I see true single-chip 802.11 devices that meet these criteria, there's still a space for Bluetooth.
After all, you don't buy "dishwasher power" for your "washing machine".
What I'm waiting for is a breakthrough in the way energy is stored; current batteries suck. Though the current generation of Bluetooth stuff is really nice, I don't think we're going to see the true mindbending utility of it all until someone figures out how to make a better battery. I've seen promising technologies featured on Slashdot and elsewhere, but nothing mindblowing.
The wireless standards are here, but if currently if people aren't chained to wires they're chained to chargers.
So when am I going to be able to get a Bluetooth-enabled hearing aid so I can interface with my PC, my cell phone and other devices? Hearing aids seem like one of the killer apps for Bluetooth yet they don't seem to exist yet.
It really shouldn't be that well known, because it's not true.
Source: Nintendo. Emphasis: mine.
The pieces are coming together....
AP Express/AirTunes...
People complaining about getting off their fat asses to change what song is playing on AirTunes...
? EDR BT enabled iPod
?Apple licenses or acquires Salling Clicker
PROFIT!!!
I guess it didn't meet fully this design spec to this day.
Where is that guy who'd die defending what I had to say when I need him?
I'm surprised no one's mentioned Salling Clicker in this discussion of bluetooth usefulness.
My PowerBook came with built-in bluetooth, and I have an Ericsson T616. OS X includes easy-to-use bluetooth software to transfer files back and forth to the phone, which is better than stringing a cable to transfer themes, contacts (iSync), pictures, and whatnot. But the mighty Clicker really makes the bluetooth shine. I use it to proximity control iTunes; my music pauses when I walk away and restarts when I walk back in (keeps people in the office from inadvertantly hearing some of the juicier Tenacious D or ODB tracks). The app changes my iChat status from available to away and back as well. And it triggers applescripts, too (Victoria tells me, "Welcome back, you rock so hard" before my music restarts).
Clicker comes with many control tools to use the phone as a remote for other apps. Control DVD Player, PowerPoint, Keynote, iTunes, and there's even a mouse mode with easy grab and release to drag files around. Some people have developed additions to the program to control VLC and others. I have found the DVD Player remote damn handy in hotel rooms, and the mouse mode is great for hooking up to the TV and showing vids and slideshows and such.
I hope this doesn't sound too much like a commercial for Clicker, but it's one of the reasons why I like owning my Mac. The app is simple to use, cheap (ten bucks when I bought it, now I think it's twenty), and can be easily configured to perform a wide variety of functions.
Google Salling Clicker if you're interested. It'll be at the top of the list.
Good choice of acronym...now this new high-falutin' Bluetooth logo can be slapped on new devices so you can one-up adopters of the first incarnation.
All you have to do is show them that your gadget is BEDR than theirs.
Ceci n'est pas un post.
Dear lord, what's next? A bad review of his beloved Ferrari Laptiop? SCO may loose in court?
My reality is crumbling ... dear god make this madness stop!
"And Leon's getting laaaaaaaaarger!!!"
There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
What I want to know is when will Verizon finally get a frickin' bluetooth phone. They are the only service that works in my house, but their phones are state-of-the-art 2001 phones.
"Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
This makes upgrading to the new standard effortless
Every time I'm told this I cringe and wait for the obligatory "As long as you are not using [specification set including all current products]..."
probably because you're a moron.
Hmm... I wonder what one of the first major products to feature this might be... hmm... I wonder if it might come from Apple... I wonder if it might have a small hard drive in it...
Looks like it came from: here but yet it links to another site.. oh well
Those coupons are usually provided by the manufacturer. Their purpose is not to get you into the store, but to encourage you to buy their brand, in the hopes that you will like it and then later buy it at the normal price.