Technology of the month: Bluetooth

Bluetooth
Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs).
Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency.
The Bluetooth specifications are developed and licensed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.

Bluetooth is a standard and communications protocol primarily designed for low power consumption, with a short range (power-class-dependent: 1 meter, 10 meters, 100 meters) based on low-cost transceiver microchips in each device.

Bluetooth enables these devices to communicate with each other when they are in range. The devices use a radio communications system, so they do not have to be in line of sight of each other, and can even be in other rooms, as long as the received transmission is powerful enough.

List of applications

More prevalent applications of Bluetooth include:

* Wireless control of and communication between a mobile phone and a hands-free headset or car kit. This was one of the earliest applications to become popular.
* Wireless networking between PCs in a confined space and where little bandwidth is required.
* Wireless communications with PC input and output devices, the most common being the mouse, keyboard and printer.
* Transfer of files between devices with OBEX.
* Transfer of contact details, calendar appointments, and reminders between devices with OBEX.
* Replacement of traditional wired serial communications in test equipment, GPS receivers, medical equipment, bar code scanners, and traffic control devices.
* For controls where infrared was traditionally used.
* Sending small advertisements from Bluetooth enabled advertising hoardings to other, discoverable, Bluetooth devices.
* Seventh-generation game consoles—Nintendo Wii[3], Sony PlayStation 3—use Bluetooth for their respective wireless controllers.
* Receiving commercial advertisements ("spam") via a kiosk, e.g. at a movie theatre or lobb