Bluetooth

[Benners]

Anyone aware of a driver being written for a bluetooth CF card that would be compatible with the nB?

[WolfUK]

I've not heard any rumours but it would seem to be a logical next step now that wireless networking has been addressed.

[zolee]

Hope that live!

http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2104

zolee

[Tim Jackson]

Will the bluetooth PC card work in a netbook?
And has anyone tried the serial-port bluetooth device?

If I could be sure that bluetooth can work on a netbook, it would persuade me to get one (a n/b, that is), as my 5mx has recently bitten the dirt...

[WolfUK]

Tim, until someone actually produces bluetooth drivers then no bluetooth add-on (PC Card, CF or serial) will work. The limitation is due to not having the software available for the netBook (although there may be some hardware compatibility issues too).

[Tim Jackson]

Simon,

Thanks for your reply. Bit of a bummer! I'd sort of
hoped that at least the serial-port thing might look
like a standard serial port to the Psion, and therefore be transparent to any apps.

Oh well...

[_JJ_]

I think there would be a good chance of getting this sort of thing to work: http://www.free2move.se/prod_spp.htm - it is after all designed for 'legacy' applications which cannot have new drivers written for them.

The device is first configured using a Windows PC, then afterwards it acts like a standard serial port. What I don't know is if the serial port profile can be used to talk to a phone, or if handsets only support the dial-up networking profile.

Power will probably be an issue, the data sheet does not list the power consumption figures and I don't know how much (if any!) power can be drawn from a Psion's RS232 port.

Of course, if you're using a cable to connect to a Bluetooth adaptor you could just save a few quid and plug the cable directly into a phone ;)


JJ

[Tim Jackson]

Thanks, JJ.

I was using the phone's IR port to connect to the
Psion. I'd like to use bluetooth to wireless-network a netbook...

When my 5mx died, I checked out the docs
for the Ericcson T39 to see what more I could
do on the phone (well, on the home computer with
WAP, as I've got DSL). The clincher was finding
that I can (amongst many other useful things) set
the phone's alarm via serial cable, I.R, and
bluetooth. Almost all of the other useful functions can be achieved with a bit of wml/wmlscript.

Obviously bluetooth would be the most
convenient way of connecting directly to the
phone for non-WAP stuff, so I've ordered a USB
b/tooth dongle to plug into one of the 'big' boxes.

I'm not too happy with the idea of spending a
fortune to fix the 5mx, given that there's a high
probability that it will fail again; and I can't really
justify a netbook... unless, given that my home
network is about to be bluetooth-enabled, I
could connect the netbook via bluetooth. It
would be *so* convenient -- I'd rack up the
credit card for a netbook without another thought!

I'll wait for some prices on the serial dongles...
thanks for the pointer!

[diem]

I'd have thought all phones provide a serial modem connection, through which Hayes AT commands are sent. The only thing you might need in addition to the serial adapter would be a null-modem cable, which I think you can get here : http://www.serialleads.co.uk/

How many devices do you wish to network together? It may be a little off-topic but you could use WiFi instead? The data rates are much higher (web browsing etc), the kit is here and is getting very cheap...

[Tim Jackson]

Thanks diem.

Connecting to the phone is not a problem; I'd been using its IR port to connect to the Psion. Now that I'm relying on the phone for my diary/alarms/shopping-list/email(some)/etc., which I used to do on the Psion, I want to use bluetooth (instead of IR or a serial cable) to connect the phone to the unix + linux network at home: I need a non-WAP connection to the phone to allow a computer to set the phone's alarm, and bluetooth will be by far the most convenient.

I'd love to get a netbook now that the 5mx is dead, but I can only justify it if I could have the convenience of a wireless (i.e. radio, not IR) connection to my network. If I can use bluetooth, I'll go for it, but I'm not going to get into 'proper' wireless networking...

It looks as if the serial bluetooth adaptor will work, but I haven't seen any prices for the two that were advertised.

[Benners]

Hi all,

Many thanks for the dialogue so far on this subject.

Has anyone out there spoken with the major software writers to see if a blutooth driver is on the way.

I have emailed Symbian for advise and have drawn a blank plus spoken to Steve Clack at Palmtop publications who also was unaware of any progress. The general feeling is that with limited nB sales a driver may not be commercially viable!

Benners

[WolfUK]

I would guess that the arrival of a bluetooth driver will be due to either Symbian deciding to include it (I am guessing that some work was done on this for ER5 since a bluetooth Revo was rumoured) or a third-party enterprise customer developing one and the deciding to release it to the public (unlikely).

[Benners]

Thanks for the info.