Mobile Computing & Bluetooth - The Advantages of Bluetooth Technology

    There are many new technologies that are competing to take hold as new wireless technologies start to take the drivers seat in many of the older standards. There are more than one technology that allow a mouse for example, to function without a cord connecting it to your computer. You can use a WiFi connection, you can use Bluetooth or even an infrared signal. So which one is the best? Well, that really depends on you and your own plans for usage.

    Some of these technologies are more limited that others, if you are looking for a very long range connection, the WiFi devices seem to perform better and if you need to be able to connect to the PC without a direct live of vision the infrared devices will not perform well because they need to be able to have a straight shot from the device to the receiver. Bluetooth devices sit right in the middle and are good for connectivity from at least 30 feet away and are good around corners or where there is not a straight shot.

    This is not the biggest advantage of the Bluetooth technology, the biggest reason to start taking advantage of Bluetooth is that is a highly compatible standardized technology that works with millions of devices. If you have a cell phone, printer, mouse or keyboard that is Bluetooth capable you can connect them to your computer or other mobile devices very simply. If you want to boost security you can put your own password on most devices or simply turn the Bluetooth off to stop others from connecting when you don't want them to. If you do not have a PC that has Bluetooth capability then you can buy an adapter that plugs into a USB slot for about 20 bucks. The price of Bluetooth accessories has really dropped over the past few years and more and more hardware components for PC's and other digital devices are starting to adopt this budding wireless technology that allows for data transfer and audio streaming.

    For many the Bluetooth features on cellular devices are a big selling point and being able to connect to their home stereo, personal computer and portable speakers using Bluetooth is a feature that they do not want to go without. Since the newer Bluetooth 2.0 technology is completely backwards compatible this is another reason many are happy to spend money on Bluetooth devices, because they know that they will be able to use them with any other device they get in many years to come.