Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
The really big deal you should take away from this list is that Bluetooth is
designed to be a low-power (and low-priced!) technology for portable and
mobile devices. Bluetooth (do they call it Bleutooth in France?) isn’t designed
to replace a wireless LAN. It’s designed to be cheaply built into devices to
allow quick and easy connections.
Some of the PAN applications that Bluetooth has been designed to perform
include
� Cable replacement: Peripheral devices that use cables today —
keyboards, mice, cell phone headsets, and the like — can now cut that
cord and use Bluetooth links instead.
� Synchronization: Many people have important information (such as
address books, phone number lists, and calendars) on multiple devices
(such as PCs, PDAs, and cell phones), and keeping this information synchronized
(up-to-date and identical on each device) can be a real pain.
Bluetooth (when combined with synchronization software) allows these
devices to wirelessly and automatically talk with each other and keep
up-to-date.
� Simple file sharing: If you’ve ever been at a meeting with a group of
technology geeks (we go to these meetings all the time, but then, we’re
geeks ourselves), you may have noticed these folks pulling out their
Windows Mobile and Palm PDAs and doing all sorts of contortions with
them. What they’re doing is exchanging files (usually electronic business
cards) via the built-in infrared (IR) system found on Palms. This system
is awkward because you need to have the Palms literally inches apart
with the IR sensors lined up. Bluetooth, because it uses radio waves,
has a much greater range, which doesn’t require direct IR alignment —
and is much faster to boot.
Look for even more cool applications in the future. For example, Bluetooth
could be used to connect an electronic wallet (on your cell phone) to an
electronic kiosk. For example, a soda machine could be Bluetooth enabled,
and if you wanted a soda, you wouldn’t need to spend ten minutes trying
to feed your last, raggedy dollar bill into the machine. You would just press
a button on your PDA or cell phone, and it would send a buck from your
electronic wallet to the machine and dispense your soda.
Another common future application may be customized information for a
particular area. Ever go to one of those huge conferences held in places like
Las Vegas? The booth numbers tend to go from 0 to 20,000, and the convention
floor is about the size of 50 football fields — in other words, it’s difficult
to find your way around. With Bluetooth, you can simply walk by an info
kiosk and have a floor map and exhibitor display downloaded to your phone.
We’re hoping that this feature is in place next time we go to the Consumer
Electronics Show; we hate being late for appointments because we’re
spending an hour searching for a booth.