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Bluetooth Basics - Bluetooth Technology Tutorial

Bluetooth Basics

Bluetooth technology is nothing new, but in many respects it still seems to be more of a buzz word rather than a well understood, commonly accepted technology. You see advertisements for Bluetooth enabled cell phones, PDAs, and laptops, and a search of the Geeks.com website shows all sorts of different devices taking advantage of this wireless standard. But, what is it?

History

Before getting into the technology, the word Bluetooth is intriguing all on its own, and deserves a look. The term is far less high tech than you might imagine, and finds its roots in European history. The King of Denmark from 940 to 981 was renowned for his ability to help people communicate, his name (in English)… Harald Bluetooth. Perhaps a bit obscure, but the reference is appropriate for a wireless communications standard.

Another item worth investigating is the Bluetooth logo. Based on characters from the runic alphabet (used in ancient Denmark), it was chosen as it appears to be the combination of the English letter B and an asterisk.

Capabilities

The FAQ on the Bluetooth.org (https://www.bluetooth.org/) website offers a basic definition: “Bluetooth wireless technology is a worldwide specification for a small-form factor, low-cost radio solution that provides links between mobile computers, mobile phones, other portable handheld devices, and connectivity to the Internet.”

Just like 802.11 b/g wireless networking systems and many cordless telephones, Bluetooth devices operate on 2.4 GHz radio signals. That band seems to be getting a bit crowded, and interference between devices may be difficult to avoid. Telephones are now being offered on the 5.8 GHz band to help remedy this, and Bluetooth has taken its own steps to reduce interference and improve transmission quality. Version 1.1 of the Bluetooth standard greatly reduces interference issues, but requires completely different hardware from the original 1.0C standard, thus eliminating any chance of backwards compatibility.

The typical specifications of Bluetooth indicate a maximum transfer rate of 723 kbps and a range of 20-100 meters (65 to 328 feet - depending on the class of the device). This speed is a fraction of that offered by 802.11 b or g wireless standards, so it is obvious that Bluetooth doesn’t pose a threat to replace your wireless network. Although it is very similar to 802.11 in many ways, Bluetooth was never intended to be a networking standard, but does have many practical applications.

Practical Applications

There are a variety of products that take advantage of Bluetooth’s capabilities, from laptops and PDAs, to headphones and input devices, and even wireless printer adapters.

Many Laptops include an onboard Bluetooth adaptor to allow the system to connect to any Bluetooth device right out of the box. For laptop or desktop systems that do not have an adaptor built in, there are many USB Bluetooth adaptors available.

Bluetooth enabled PDAs allow for convenient wireless synchronization and data transfer.

Headphones can take advantage of Bluetooth for two purposes… audio playback and mobile phone communications. Using something a mobile headset with a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone allows anyone to go hands free, as well as wire free.

Logitech, and other manufacturers, also produce input devices that eliminate wires thanks to Bluetooth. You can add a Bluetooth mouse to your system, or both a mouse and keyboard. One advantage that Bluetooth wireless keyboard/mouse combinations have over the standard RF wireless keyboard/mouse combinations is range. Where most standard RF keyboard/mouse combinations have a range up to 6 feet; a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combination will usually have a range of up to 30 feet.

Bluetooth printer adaptors make sharing a printer extremely convenient by eliminating the need for any wires or special configurations on a typical network. Printing to any compatible HP printer from a PC, PDA or mobile phone can now be done easily from anywhere in the office.

Final Words

At this point the popularity of Bluetooth might not be as large as some proponents would have hoped, but many devices are available for those interested. The cost and competition from other standards have hindered the widespread acceptance, but Bluetooth does offer a viable solution to many devices that might not have wireless connectivity without it.

Computer Geeks tech tips and computer advice

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Importance of Recycling Computers & Batteries & Cell Phones

These days, given the tremendous amount of waste that is generated every single day, more and more emphasis is given towards recycling. Organizations and even governments all around the world are calling for the efficient implementation of recycling measures especially since research has shown that the earth’s natural resources are fast depleting because of the continuous presence of toxic and unreusable items. Some of these items include computers, batteries and cellular phones, which have become staples in almost every home and office. One can just imagine the millions of tons of waste should these pieces of equipment be allowed to rot. Minerals found on earth are unrenewable resources and should these be used up and depleted due to the presence of tiny yet deadly particles, all of us will suffer.

Hence, everyone is encouraged to learn the importance of recycling computers and batteries and cellular phones.

Computers, for one, have tiny, bioaccumulative compound particles that could pose harm not only to animals and to bodies of water, but to humans as well. Batteries, on the other hand, contain cadmium, lead and mercury. If batteries are carelessly thrown out, they can end up in incinerators and landfills. The earth’s surface may seep the toxic ingredients of batteries and this may lead to soil and water contamination.

Meanwhile, cellular phones have become indispensable gadgets. In fact, the number of cell phone subscribers is anticipated to grow by the billions every year. However, while some consumers store old phones and look for outlets where they can have cell phone recycled, many include these old ones in their household garbage, prompting highly poisonous elements such as mercury and lead found in each cell phone unit to be released. It is important to keep these elements away from landfills so as to maintain the health of the soil and of the animals that depend on the earth for food.

There are many resources available to help recycle computers, batteries and cell phones. For one, there are organizations that take in these old items via drop off centers or home pick-up scheme. These organizations either refurbish the items and donate them to financially hard up communities or forward them to a recycling facility for proper disposal.

You can also contact the manufacturers of these items and ask if they have a recycling program. Companies that have recycling programs even offer free pick up of your old computers, batteries and cell phones.

This Article is written by James Kara Murat from PrintCountry.com, the contributor of Inkjet Printer Ink Cartridges. A longer version of this article is located at Importance of Recycling Computers & Batteries & Cell Phones, and some related resources can be found at Recycle Empty Dell Computers.

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Windows XP Repair- Tweaks for WinXP 3

LuvComputers PC Repair Tweak No.3

Now moving on to the final part of this little series of Windows XP tweaks.

In this part were going to improve the computers all around start up time. The way that were going to do this is to remove the amount of programs starting up when we boot our computer. Truth be known, there are quite a few of these that just don’t need to be starting up when we boot the machine.

Now the programs starting up will differ from machine to machine, depending on what programs are installed on a given computer. I’m not going to go into to much detail here. I’m just going to give you an overall idea of the sort of things that really aren’t necessary to be loading up and starting.

Tweak-NO.3

1. The first thing that we need to do is to get into our run box again.

So remember, click Start, menu opens, find and click run.

2. Once we have the run box open, we’re going to type into the run box the phrase “msconfig”, without quotations. Then click ok. Now we are in what is known as the System Configuration Utility.

3. Now that were in the utility, the tab were going to be needing is the Startup tab. Now for the purpose of this, we are going to keep it basic, I don’t want people unchecking things that shouldn’t be unchecked.

4. As you can see there are many things that are starting up when you boot your computer, and frankly, up startup, many of them just aren’t necessary.

There are programs such as Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, etc. that really don’t need to be started when you boot up, unless of course your one of those people that likes to be automatically logged in upon startup. But, any of these sorts of chat programs will start when you need them to, just by double clicking their icon or else starting them from the programs menu.

So, taking these things out during the startup process, will speed up your startup times, by quite a lot in many cases.

Does Windows Office need to be started when you boot your computer. No. Probably not.

Does your webcam software need to be started at this time. Again, probably not.

Go through these programs starting up and choose which one’s you really don’t need to be starting when you boot up, and it will improve your performance.

Now, there are some things that should be starting as well, and you should be leaving these alone. These are things like your antivirus protection. For the purpose of this tweak, leave the checks next to items that look more like filenames alone. These are items like isschd, ccapp, and things along this line. In future tutorials I’ll get into these a little bit more. For now, let’s just stick to basics.

Once your finished unchecking the programs that don’t need to be starting, and are sure that these are fine. Remember what I said about your antivirus software. Anything that has to do with your Internet Security, leave these checks in place.

After your finished, click ok, after you click ok, you will be asked to restart your computer. After your computer restarts your changes will take place.

So there you go, this concludes our little LuvComputers PC Repair Tweaks for WinXP series. I hope that you enjoyed these tutorials and learned a little bit from them.

Again I kept things fairly straight forward. I didn’t want people checking and unchecking things that may have an undesirable effect.

Well see you all soon, and take care of yourself!

Thanx Davin

LuvComputer’s PC Repair

Davin Ogden is recognized and certified IT Support Specialist. He has performed contract work with IBM, Walmart, and several Canadian Bank chains. Davin now runs LuvComputer’s PC Repair at http://www.luvcomputers.com , online as well as offline in his hometown of Kimberley, BC Canada. Davin also offers an outstanding newsletter to his visitors and subscribers. If you would like to join please go to http://www.luvcomputers.com/newsletter.html

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