Bluetooth In Action

In the United States, Bluetooth gets absolutely no respect.  It is however, becoming more and more common in notebooks, PDAs, and especially cell phones.  Bluetooth will provide wireless users a way to transmit small amounts of data over short distances.

Now, Bluetooth is facing stiff competition from new wireless technology.  Referred to as UWB or Ultra Wideband, it promises data transfer of up  to 480 MB a second - while most current Bluetooth devices transfer data up to 721 KB a second.

For the time being, Bluetooth devices are surely cropping up.  Below, we will look at some of  the accessories offered with Bluetooth technology.

Talking to the dashboard

When pairing it with a cell phone, the CCM Blue Warrior car kit becomes a great speaker phone that plugs into the power adapter of your vehicle.  The noise cancelling microphone will reduce background noise efficiently, with the large buttons making  adjusting the speaker volume a snap.  Although  the Blue Warrior is far from sexy or sleek, it's  very practical.

Tiny tuning box

Part MP3 player and part hands free phone, the  compact and lightweight Sony HBM-30 is an attractive gadget that lets you accept calls with minimal interruption of your tunes.  When you get an incoming call it will automatically pause your music, then you speak into the built in microphone that you  can wear around your neck or clip to your clothes.

The pen

With Nokia's SU-1B digital pen, you can doodle and make hand written notes in ink on a special pad then transmit them from the pad to your Bluetooth phone.  Being an alternative to typing on a cell phone keypad, the pen is very handy, although a pricey tool from MMS fans.