How does Bluetooth work? Bluetooth enhances the ability to connect various electronic devices together and streamlines their interaction. By learning how Bluetooth equipment works, you can get a better idea of how the technology can enhance your life.
What Is Bluetooth?
Electronic devices, such as printers and computers or cell phones and headsets, need to communicate with each other. Sometimes this is done with cables and wires and sometimes by wireless or infrared signals. For two devices to communicate, many of the physical and internal components must be compatible. Incompatible technologies may not be able to communicate unless there is some kind of middle ground where physical and internal connections can be made. Bluetooth facilitates that connection.
Bluetooth matches the radio-frequency output of devices, such a cell phones, and standardizes it so that other Bluetooth products can understand it. It uses frequency-hopping technology, where pieces of data are broken up and sent over different frequencies. By putting a Bluetooth chip or receiver into various devices, such as laptops, PCs, GPS systems and digital cameras, those devices can be linked to any other Bluetooth-compatible equipment.
Each device sends out its own radio signal in the 2.4 Mhz band and can pick up other Bluetooth signals within a 30-foot area. The signals are sent out on a set of frequencies (79 in all) and hop from one frequency to another, faster than 1,600 times per second. This allows multiple devices to send out signals and operate on different frequencies without interfering with each other. It also prevents people from intercepting the data sent between two Bluetooth devices.
As long as at least two different Bluetooth-enabled devices are within range of each other, they can be brought together and communicate with each other. Bluetooth can connect up to 8 electronic devices at the same time into a small network known as a Piconet.
How Can It Work for Me?
Bluetooth can work is to allow communication between a mobile phone headset and a cell phone, ideal in states that require hands-free phones in cars. It can also clear up clutter on your desktop by allowing your PC, mouse, keyboard and printer to work without wires. New video game consoles use Bluetooth to run wireless controllers. Some watches, modems and MP3 players are Bluetooth-enabled, and there's even work being done to create Bluetooth headphones for music that sound as good as wired models.
 | While shopping for a Bluetooth headset, comfort, features and the Bluetooth profile that's supported make the difference. Talkers will be happy with a basic Bluetooth headset, but music fans and those who need their phones for work should look for larger models that support the Bluetooth 2.0 profile. |
 | Learning how to connect a Bluetooth headset is simple, and it's a great way to expose yourself to this wireless technology. |
If you haven't seen the new Jawbone Bluetooth Headset you are in for a real surprise. Seen all over Los Angeles and of course on the hottest people (they think so anyway), the new Jawbone Bluetooth Headset is the latest in cell phone accessories. |
Gadgets galore are becoming a mainstay of office culture, with hundreds of business professionals and casual telephone users adapting their daily habits into almost routine dependencies. For those without the added responsibility of a Bluetooth headset, PDA, or other hands-free wireless device, chances are they're missing out on some of the time-saving conveniences available. |
Bluetooth advantages over competing wireless technologies have enabled this system to become one of the most popular in use today. |
