Bluetooth Preview

[arn]

Apple released the Bluetooth Preview Release today:

Apple Bluetooth™ Preview Release

System Requirements:

- Mac OSX 10.1.3 or greater.
- D-Link DWB-120M Bluetooth USB Adapter

 

[Brent Turbo]

FINALLY! A way to connect all of my Bluetooth stuff to the computer! Oh wait, there isn't any....

 

[Macette]

How much, then?

Any ideas about how much these little blue teeth are going to cost? Would be good to ditch my x-over cable...

 

[Pelorus]

Re: Bluetooth Preview

Originally posted by arn
System Requirements:
- D-Link DWB-120M Bluetooth USB Adapter

We've got the Bluetooth phones, we've got the Bluetooth Palm gear...

The little $49 adapters from the Apple Store...however...are not available to order in the UK for 6-8 weeks.

Thanks Apple!

 

[Mr. Anderson]

With Blue Tooths introduction to the Mac, Apple wireless keyboards and mice won't be far behind. This I look forward to.

 

[Screamingbeaver]

About $50 bucks?

I thought it was gonna cost about $50 bucks from the Apple Store.

 

[G4scott]

Isn't there an issue with bluetooth and 802.11b? Something where there wasn't enough channels in the 2.4ghz frequency, and bluetooth made airport slow to a crawl? Is this true or not? Or was that some older form of bluetooth? Just checking...

Anyways, the Apple bluetooth page still shows the download as unavailable. What's up with that?

I can see some great advantages with bluetooth, though. It says that you can do Mac 2 Mac connections. Maybe this is what Apple was waiting for to repalce the floppy! (CD's are fine, but there is a nice burn-failure rate). I know intel's had bluetooth out for a while, but i think that Apple was just waiting for it to catch on, just to make sure that they weren't going to use some crappy technology that doesn't catch on. That, or they just got it to work with the Mac. Anyways, i'm sure that they could make small, battery powered memory chips with built in bluetooth (you've seen how small the adapter is.) That would be cool. Just place the memory thing by your Mac, flip a switch that turns on the bluetooth, and use a password or something to get your data from the device. That would be cool. ANyways, gotta go.

 

[Screamingbeaver]

True Wireless Internet...

I don't know too much about Bluetooth, but I am excited about it. Did you see Jobs demo it in his Keynote? He had a Bluetooth enabled cell phone and connected to the internet from it, launched the Bluetooth software on his iBook and Bam! He was surfing the web truely wirelessly. Anywhere you can get a signal with you cell phone.

I though that was cool.

'Beaver

 

[Pelorus]

Originally posted by G4scott
Isn't there an issue with bluetooth and 802.11b? Something where there wasn't enough channels in the 2.4ghz frequency, and bluetooth made airport slow to a crawl? Is this true or not? Or was that some older form of bluetooth? Just checking...

Anyways, the Apple bluetooth page still shows the download as unavailable. What's up with that?

I snagged it from versiontracker.

Bluetooth and Airport can conflict but it's not likely to give you any great performance hit - AirPort is pretty slow anyway.

If performance is your thing then stick to wired connections.

 

[clonenode]

Have you seen the size of the USB Bluetooth adapter? It's tiny. Barely bigger than a USB connector. You have to expect Apple to build this right onto the motherboards of the next generation Macs. That will be very cool.

 

[j763]

i hope either the phone providers or apple will make a list of compatible phones...

 

[arn]

Originally posted by clonenode
Have you seen the size of the USB Bluetooth adapter? It's tiny. Barely bigger than a USB connector. You have to expect Apple to build this right onto the motherboards of the next generation Macs. That will be very cool.

I'm sure Apple will start building it in... in the future...

I would like them to make a pass-through bluetooth usb device though... plug it in to the usb port, and then plug your usb devices into the other end.

arn

 

[Screamingbeaver]

HEY j763, I agree with you. I've been waiting to upgrade. My cell contract just expired and now I'd like to get a phone with the best features including bluetooth.

There has gotta be a site somewhere that compares cell phones...

 

[Screamingbeaver]

Wow..

Wow!, Nokia has five bluetooth enabled models...

http://www.nokia.com/bluetooth/

 

[Hemingray]

Originally posted by clonenode
Have you seen the size of the USB Bluetooth adapter? It's tiny. Barely bigger than a USB connector. You have to expect Apple to build this right onto the motherboards of the next generation Macs. That will be very cool.

I can see this going the way IRDA went...

Now, a bluetooth PCI card for my Newton... THAT would be cool.

 

[gotohamish]

But WHAT do we do with it!

Okay, forget about it if you have a Palm but... I have a UK Ericcson T39m with Bluetooth, and have had it for 6 months, and am very happy. However, soon I can use it with my Powerbook. So what?

I can already connect using IR, and I don't need a $50 adapter. It's not like I'm going to connect standing up, so I don't care if the phone's in my pocket or on the train table.

The other problems is... why? So can I transfer my numbers/calendar? WOW!?! Is that it?

please explain it to me...

h

 

[Pelorus]

Re: But WHAT do we do with it!

Originally posted by gotohamish
I can already connect using IR, and I don't need a $50 adapter. It's not like I'm going to connect standing up, so I don't care if the phone's in my pocket or on the train table.

1. Some people might not have a powerbook, they may have iBooks

2. You'll see more bluetooth enabled devices in the future.

3. IrDA sucks. I got real tired real fast using it on both Powerbook, Newton and iMac. Bluetooth is a godsend.

 

[Gelfin]

By this summer, I'll be able to get a Bluetooth stub for my PowerBook, a Sony CLIE NR70V with a Bluetooth Memory Stick, and a Bluetooth-enabled phone on Sprint's 3G network. That'll be a sweet place to be when I'm out and about, and as long as I can yank all the Bluetooth stuff out whenever I'm on my AirPort network at home, it's all good.

One thing that does still concern me, aside from the 2.4GHz interference, is that in all the talk of how easy it is to pair with nearby devices, I haven't heard any indication of what's going to prevent the guy across the aisle from me on the bus from using my cell phone minutes to surf on his laptop.

 

[gotohamish]

i hear you, but

I hear what you're saying about iBooks and no IR, but will Bluetooth be faster? using a cell to go online is cool, but VERY expensive, even on a local call.

Can you only use Bluetooth Memory Sticks on Clie's or can I put one in my cybershot camera and use iPhoto without cables?

h

 

[Wry Cooter]

Originally posted by j763
i hope either the phone providers or apple will make a list of compatible phones...

...because this site

http://www.bluetooth.com/

is one of the most worthless frigging sites I've ever seen.

And this site

http://www.bluetooth.org/

Is not going to let you in without a registration and a password. I guess the special interest of this SIG is for them to know and for you to find out.

Too Bad really. That just leaves Ericsson for info, and I don't think I want an Ericsson phone. I want an Handspring Treo.

Apple needs to make their own list of Bluetooth capable devices, because it seems no one else is going to.

 

[Pelorus]

Re: i hear you, but

Originally posted by gotohamish
I hear what you're saying about iBooks and no IR, but will Bluetooth be faster? using a cell to go online is cool, but VERY expensive, even on a local call.

Depends on the tariff you connect at and what services you are using. I've a funny feeling that Steve's demo used GPRS on a Bluetooth phone (available on quite a few models) as it was WAY faster than my Nokia and USB Palladio on OSx setup.

 

[gotohamish]

hmm

I hate to sound negative, but I can't help but think the site's Steve loaded were already in IE's cache, and thus we weren't really seeing a true representation.

OSX's Network pane says my Ericsson has a 28.8 modem, but I can only get it to connect on 14.4. However, on opening the Network pane I now have two bluetooth options, I'll have to try the little chip thing and see if it's faster.

Does anyone know any more about the Bluetooth Memory Sticks and their uses?

 

[kemck]

Blue Tooth Memory Stick?????

I have searched Sony and any other place I could think of...is the BlueTooth Memory Stick real or wishful thinking?

 

[mithras]

yes, the bluetooth memory stick is real...

...but it's just a wee bit expensive:

PalmInfoCenter says it's just becoming available, for $212. (!)

Besides, you have to remove any memory sticks current plugged in, which kind of nullifies the point of quick, easy Hotsyncing.

 

[mcrain]

I only have two concerns about the bluetooth adapter.

1. They have to eventually build it into the newer computers. There is a very high liklihood that that little thing is going to get caught on something and break either the adapter or the usb port.

2. It looks like a hemmoroid.