Bluetooth 4.0 Becomes 'Bluetooth Smart' as iPhone 4S Creates New Opportunities

[traveller09]

All I know is I still have not been able to get my 4s to pair with my Bluetooth headset. My iPhone 3 was a pain and it took forever, but it at least it eventually paired.

[Dr McKay]

Originally Posted by Nomadski

Its not Flash my friends rib me about having an iPhone, its this^^.

Its an embarrassing missing feature of the iPhone, STILL.

My friends at work who don't own iPhones at work do it to, I'll be talking about how great the camera phone is, and they say

"Hey that picture is great! Why don't you Bluetooth it to me....Oh wait you can't!!"

[citi]

Originally Posted by Benjy91

My friends at work who don't own iPhones at work do it to, I'll be talking about how great the camera phone is, and they say

"Hey that picture is great! Why don't you Bluetooth it to me....Oh wait you can't!!"

I can TOTALLY see that happening too. lol

[s1m]

Originally Posted by Benjy91

My friends at work who don't own iPhones at work do it to, I'll be talking about how great the camera phone is, and they say

"Hey that picture is great! Why don't you Bluetooth it to me....Oh wait you can't!!"

Between iPhones you can - bluetooth photo share does exactly that.

[spazzcat]

Originally Posted by Benjy91

My friends at work who don't own iPhones at work do it to, I'll be talking about how great the camera phone is, and they say

"Hey that picture is great! Why don't you Bluetooth it to me....Oh wait you can't!!"

I think you can do this through bump?

[chocolate]

I've been impressed by the Bluetooth in the 4S as it works with the Bluetooth in my little Mazda. (I'm upgrading from a flip phone w/ BT) It now allows me wireless phone/music/podcasts over the stereo. (Perhaps this is old news) Best of all, when in the middle of a podcast I can stop, turn off the ignition, and the BT on the iPhone pauses the podcast. When I start-up, the podcast begins where it left off. How civilized!.

[bkushner]

Why do I still have to use roqybt to connect my bluetooth dongle to my ipad? Why won't Apple allow this in the app store?

[diamond.g]

Originally Posted by s1m

Between iPhones you can - bluetooth photo share does exactly that.

Is this an app?

[exbibyte]

Interesting. I'll be curious how this will be put to use.

[medelman]

As someone who is currently writing software for a Bluetooth enabled wireless patch that monitors the heart, I'd really like to see iPhone open up it's Bluetooth capabilities. Currently our patch talks to a wearable pocket sized cellular gateway via Bluetooth, but it would be nice to be able to bypass the gateway altogether.

Matt

[Diablograndepic]

... some manufacturer will just design a BT headset that cancels road noise well enough to allow the party on the other side of the phone call the ability to hear what it is I am trying to tell them.

[Dainin]

Originally Posted by a.gomez

right, how about just catching up with regular BT and let me file transfer... My GT lets me do it - no point in reading the features if Apple going to cripple it in the end

Where are the files going to go? Until we have access to the file system I don't see what good this would do.

[nitropowered]

I think this is more a jab at ANT+ than NFC

[jbrown]

Why is this good news?

Could someone explain what new thongs I'll be able to do with BT 4?

cheers

[TigerWoodsIV]

Originally Posted by Mr. Gates

I'm guessing the Bluetooth is still crippled and file transfer is blocked.
If not, really cool.
But Apple seems have a reason for preventing this feature.
I hope that changes.
Even my old RAZR phone from the 90s was able to do this.

That's pretty impressive, since the RAZR didn't come out until 2004.

[SvP]

Originally Posted by citi

I can TOTALLY see that happening too. lol

Maybe you can ask them if they can fax you a carbon copy.. i could do that back in '90!

[bushido]

but can it send pics?

[jbrown]

IS there a specific REASON Apple don't allow their fonts to send files?

[jmgregory1]

Originally Posted by jbrown

IS there a specific REASON Apple don't allow their fonts to send files?

Assume data integrity and safety - with control of the system thrown in for good measure.

Apple wants to change the way we think about and use our computers/phones. Forget about a file system, they'll just build a specific functionality into the OS or through an app. Bluetooth, like NFC, is a hardware part, not a system solution. The fact that other manufacturers have made it possible to do things like transfer photos or files through BT is simply related to the fact that most or at least a lot of other manufacturers just don't think as globally about their products and systems as Apple does.

I'm still waiting for Apple to make the change from wired headset to BT headset. They are pushing wireless everything else, yet still hold on to the white headset. There has to be a reason for it, beyond cost difference. I don't care whether they provide a single or stereo headset - 99% of the time I'm just talking on the phone, not listening to music.

[oxfordguy]

I was disappointed to see that the Macbook Pro refresh this week did not include Bluetooth 4.0, given that the Macbook Air, iPhone 4S and iPad 2 all support this now (I think...)

[jbrown]

Originally Posted by jbrown

Why is this good news?

Could someone explain what new things I'll be able to do with BT 4?

cheers

Can anyone list the benefits - and what we will actually be able to do with this?

[Pegamush]

before thinking about heart rate measurement, why don't they start with simple things like wireless syncing/sharing/streaming?
maybe let's start with contact/link sharing, then itunes sync, remote control the computer, airplay (called BluePlay for the occasion), lots of things, none of which will ever come out..

i hate being bond to a wifi connection from a mobile device. i've already payed for my data plan, so why should i connect to wifi whenever i want to do something useful? (i know, it's an awkward thinking, but that's me)

[handygeek]

Originally Posted by jbrown

Can anyone list the benefits - and what we will actually be able to do with this?

It's mainly about power consumption and bandwidth scalability. For instance, a BT4 HRM doesn't need full-power/bandwidth BT just to send its telemetry data a few feet away. Likewise, the phone doesn't need to use as much power for that device. Also, devices that are more bandwidth-thirsty (like a BT headset) get up to 10 times more data rate and at a much lower power consumption. That means much better sounding BT stereo devices are possible.

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Originally Posted by Pegamush

before thinking about heart rate measurement, why don't they start with simple things like wireless syncing/sharing/streaming?

Those are all made possible with Wifi and to a lesser degree 3G. BT4 is another means of connectivity, but mostly not meant for sharing. Am I missing something here?

[handygeek]

Originally Posted by jbrown

Can anyone list the benefits - and what we will actually be able to do with this?

- Better sounding wireless headsets
- Higher quality wireless speakers
- Longer battery life on your phone
- Longer battery life on your devices (providing they support BT4)

[EdRed]

Originally Posted by Mr. Gates

Even my old RAZR phone from the 90s...

IIRC the RAZR is from around 2003.