Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
Accordingly, we’ve begun to see Bluetooth functionality built into an increasing
number of PDAs. For example, the newest Palm model, the Tungsten E2,
includes a built-in Bluetooth system, as does the Nokia N800 Internet tablet
(a handheld internet browsing device for when you just can’t be bothered
to turn on that computer).
You can also buy some cool Bluetooth accessories for handhelds. One big
issue with handhelds is the process of entering data into them. Most either
have a tiny keyboard (a thumb keyboard, really, which is too small for using
all your fingers and touch typing) or use a handwriting system, where you
use a stylus and write in not-quite-plain English on the screen. Both systems
can work well if you spend the time required to master them, but neither is
optimal, especially if you want to do some serious data entry — like writing
a book! In that case, you really need a keyboard. Check out the Freedom Input
Bluetooth keyboards (www.freedominput.com). These devices, available for
PDAs, Windows Mobile devices, and smartphones, are compact (some even
fold up) but give you a nearly full-size typing area.
If you already own a PDA and it doesn’t have Bluetooth built in, what can
you do? Do you really have to go and replace that old PDA with a new model?
Maybe not. Several manufacturers are selling add-on cards for existing PDAs
that enable Bluetooth communications. For example, Socket Communications
(www.socketcom.com) sells Compact Flash (CF) Bluetooth cards for Windows
Mobile PDAs. Speaking more generally, most PDAs and smartphones have a
memory card slot — SD, Compact Flash, or memory stick — that is most often
used to expand the amount of memory in the PDA but can be used for other
purposes. You can find Bluetooth cards in these memory card formats. With
the increasing number of devices already enabled with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, it
will be harder and harder to find these memory card format wireless adapters
in the near future.
Getting a Bluetooth card installed and set up on your PDA is easy. The first
thing you may have to do is to install some Bluetooth software on your
handheld. If this step is required, you simply put the software CD in your PC
and follow the onscreen instructions, which guide you through the process
of setting up the software. After the software is on your PC, it should be
automatically uploaded to your PDA the next time you sync it (using your
cable or cradle). After the software is on your PDA, just slide the Bluetooth
card into the PDA. The PDA recognizes it, and then may guide you through
a quick setup wizard-type program. (Or it may not — this process is so
automated that you may not notice anything happening.) That’s it — you’re
Bluetooth-ed!
After you get Bluetooth hardware and software on your PDA, you’re ready to
go. By its nature, Bluetooth is constantly on the lookout for other Bluetooth
devices. When it finds something else (such as your Bluetooth-equipped PC
or a Bluetooth printer) that can “talk” Bluetooth, the two devices communicate
and inform each other of their capabilities. If there’s a match (such as
you have a document to print and a nearby printer has Bluetooth), a dialog