The benefits of Bluetooth

Technology that allows your computer or phone to communicate with other devices wirelessly is big and it most certainly is clever. Not only can wireless communications free your home of cables and wires, you can use wireless technologies to connect a desktop, notebook or handheld computer to the internet.

But if you find the prospect of setting up your own wireless network daunting, you can still enjoy some of the perks of a cable-free life without going the whole hog.

Bluetooth is now built into many new notebook and handheld systems, desktop computers, mobile phones and even printers as standard these days and will allow you to connect devices over short distances and transfer data between them as and when you need to.

In this feature we'll be looking at Bluetooth in more detail, rounding up some of the best Bluetooth-enabled products on the market today and explaining how you can use them.

Bluetooth basics
Bluetooth is a radio-based technology that allows devices to share information over a maximum range of 100 metres. Unlike other wireless technologies, such as infrared, the devices don't need to be 'looking' at each other. As long as two Bluetooth devices are close enough to each other, it should be possible to make a connection.

This means you can use a Bluetooth headset with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone that is stashed in your pocket. Bluetooth can be used in the home and out on the move. It can also be a simpler way of wirelessly connecting a computer and a printer, for example, than setting up a permanent wireless network.

If you've purchased a notebook computer in the past couple of years it may already have Bluetooth built in. Adding Bluetooth to a notebook or desktop computer that doesn't include it as standard is easily accomplished, though, using an adapter that simply plugs into a spare USB socket or into the PC Card slot on a notebook.

There are many adapters on the market to choose from; the Belkin USB Bluetooth adapter and 3Com PC Card adapters cost around £50 and £70 respectively.

Share and share alike
With Bluetooth, you can also transfer data between a PC and a mobile phone or handheld computer. Sharing information between a phone and a computer can be very handy, allowing you to synchronise the phone's or handheld's calendar with the calendar on your PC for up-to-date copies of all your appointments and reminders.

It's also a handy way of backing up and managing the phone numbers and information stored on the phone's Sim card. If you're buying a Bluetooth adapter, you may find that it comes with software specifically for Sim management.

You can also use Bluetooth to connect a notebook or handheld computer to a Bluetooth-enabled phone. This will enable you to connect to the internet if you are signed up to a GPRS service from your mobile phone provider. We looked at this in more detail in our Mobile computing: Free to roam feature.

It's also possible to synchronise data wirelessly between a desktop and a handheld computer if both are Bluetooth-enabled. It is worth remembering, though, that Bluetooth can be a real drain on battery-powered devices such as mobile phones and handheld computers, so your best bet is to turn Bluetooth on only when you need it and leave it switched off when you don't.

Use your headset
If you have a Bluetooth-enabled phone or computer, there are loads of accessories you can pick up to take full advantage of the benefits of a cable-free life. For example, Bluetooth headsets offer hands-free phone use and can be picked up from about £30. The Plantronics M2500 headset we reviewed recently costs £50. You'll need to set up the headset to recognise your phone using a four-character code. The manual for the headset explains how to do this.

You can use a Bluetooth headset when using a desktop computer with speech recognition software rather than a keyboard to input data to your PC. A headset could also be used for video chat over the internet if you have a webcam, or making low-cost calls over the web using the services we looked at in our Internet telephony: Look who's talking feature.

Print options
If you don't have the room to set up a printer right next to your Bluetooth-enabled computer, a Bluetooth printer adapter will save you having to trail cables between your PC and printer. These are available from £45 upwards.

The newly announced Photosmart 375 from Hewlett Packard has Bluetooth built in. Aside from letting you do away with cables, a Bluetooth-enabled printer will also allow you to print photos directly from a Bluetooth-enabled cameraphone without having to save them on your PC first.

If you really want to take Bluetooth to heart, why not try the Microsoft Optical Desktop Elite for Bluetooth? The wireless keyboard and optical mouse communicate with your PC via Bluetooth and clear your desktop of unnecessary clutter. It costs £149.

Keeping your phone secure
Bluetooth allows you to exchange information between enabled devices and, as such, it is potentially open to security breaches, namely someone connecting to your phone without invitation, or hijacking Bluetooth-enabled devices remotely. This has been reported in the media as Bluejacking or Bluesnarfing.

Bluejacking is a way of sending anonymous messages in public places from one Bluetooth-enabled device to another. It can be used for fun but many of us may feel uncomfortable about receiving messages from a stranger who has managed to access our phone.

Bluesnarfing refers to connections made to your phone without your knowledge. In theory, once a Bluesnarfing connection is made, the contact book, diary and other areas of your phone can be accessed. In reality, there have been few recorded cases of Bluesnarfing as the information the average person stores on their phone is probably of little interest to others.

There are a couple of precautions you can take to make sure other people can't access your phone. The most drastic is to turn Bluetooth off altogether, but that means you won't be able to use a Bluetooth headset with your phone, for example.

If you need to keep Bluetooth on, make sure you set it to 'On' and not 'Discoverable'. Read the device's manual to learn how to do this. The latter setting will let others try to connect to your device, the former won't.

Cut the cord
If you hanker after a cable-free life, Bluetooth can help get the various devices in your home office talking to each other over small distances. It's also a handy way of connecting to the internet when you're out and about if you have a Bluetooth-enabled phone with a GPRS subscription.

If you don't want, or need, a full-blown wireless network, Bluetooth could be the ideal solution for your wireless needs.