What Is Bluetooth?

Well it isn't some strange form of tooth decay as you might initially imagine. Bluetooth is the name of a new technology that is now becoming commercially available. It promises to change significantly the way we use machines.

1  Take a look around

Look around you at the moment, you have your keyboard connected to the computer, as well as a printer, mouse, monitor and so on. What (literally) joins all of these together?, they are connected by cables. Cables have become the bane of many offices, homes etc. Most of us have experienced the 'joys' of trying to figure out what cable goes where, and getting tangled up in the details. Bluetooth essentially aims to fix this, it is a cable-replacement technology

2  How?

Conceived initially by Ericsson, before being adopted by a myriad of other companies, Bluetooth is a standard for a small , cheap radio chip to be plugged into computers, printers, mobile phones, etc.A Bluetooth chip is designed to replace cables by taking the information normally carried by the cable, and transmitting it at a special frequency to a receiver Bluetooth chip, which will then give the information received to the computer, phone whatever.

3  How about ?

That was the original idea, but the originators of the original idea soon realized that a lot more was possible. If you can transmit information between a computer and a printer, why not transmit data from a mobile phone to a printer, or even a printer to a printer?. The projected low cost of a Bluetooth chip (~$5), and its low power consumption, means you could literally place one anywhere.

4  Ideas, ideas...

With this viewpoint interest in Bluetooth is soaring, lots of ideas are constantly emerging, some practical and feasible e.g.: Bluetooth chips in freight containers to identify cargo when a lorry drives into a storage depot, or a headset that communicates with a mobile phone in your pocket, or even in the other room, other ideas not so feasible : Refrigerator communicating with your Bluetooth-enabled computer, informing it that food supply is low, and to inform the retailer over the internet.

5  The future, this website

Whatever the ideas, Bluetooth is set to take off. To be honest it's going to be forced down the consumers necks, whether they want it or not, as too many companies have invested in it.

6  Looking after your teeth

By the way if, you're wondering where the Bluetooth name originally came from, it named after a Danish Viking and King, Harald Blåtand (translated as Bluetooth in English), who lived in the latter part of the 10th century. Harald Blåtand united and controlled Denmark and Norway (hence the inspiration on the name: uniting devices through Bluetooth). He got his name from his very dark hair which was unusual for Vikings, Blåtand means dark complexion. However a more popular, (but less likely reason), was that Old Harald had a inclination towards eating Blueberries , so much so his teeth became stained with the colour, leaving Harald with a rather unique set of molars. And you thought your teeth were bad...