By now, unless you've been living in Amish country, you've likely
heard about Bluetooth. This short-range wireless technology, which began
receiving lots of ink and electrons several years ago, is supposed to
release all of our digital gadgets from the tyranny of wires. Bluetooth,
we are told, will allow these gadgets to finally answer "yes" to the
Rodney King challenge ("Can't we all just get along?"). Everything will
talk to everything else (your phone to your computer, your computer
to your PDA) without your intervention. Gadgets will stay constantly
updated on data entered into any one device (e.g., addresses, appointments,
latest MP3 downloads, how many calories you consumed at lunch, etc.).
So, where the heck is all of this gadgetry goodness? Thanks to too
much media hype, people are already sick of Bluetooth and it hasn't
even been available. Until now. Ericsson, one of the chief developers
of the Bluetooth standard has just released their first product, the
Bluetooth Headset HBH-10 (Ericsson,
$199). Right off the bat, this product demonstrates some of the revolutionary
features of this wireless technology.
For a wireless headset the Ericsson is surprisingly small (and weighs
less than an ounce). It's a little bigger than most tethered sets, but
being wireless, the extra bulk is worth it. Like all Bluetooth devices,
this first generation model has a range of up to 30'. The amazing thing
is you don't even have to take your phone out of your pocket, briefcase,
or glove box to start yammering away. You can use your phone's voice
command feature to dial the number, and then walk and talk unbound (as
long as you stay within range).
The other component that comes with the headset is the phone adapter.
It clips onto the bottom of the cell phone and becomes the wireless
receiver for the headset. Right now, the HBH-10 only works with limited
Ericsson phones (models T28, T28 World, R310, R320, and A2618), but
future models will work with other Ericssons and phones by other manufacturers.
Bluetooth is an open standard, and eventually, the hardware (even
if it's made by different manufacturers) is all supposed to work together.
The phone adapter that ships with Ericsson's headset will allegedly
be able to communicate with future Bluetooth devices (at least Ericsson's
products) and the headset will be able to talk to your PC, PDA and other
information appliances. Whether the techno-utopia of gadget interoperability
being promoted by Bluetooth developers will become a reality or not
remains to be seen, but the Ericsson Bluetooth Headset offers a tantalizing
glimpse of what may be in store.
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