- Bluetooth technology began development in the early nineties by a team of Swedish engineers working for Sony Erickson. The technology was soon presented to the world in 1998, when the Bluetooth Special Interest Group was founded. This group effectively manages the Bluetooth technology and oversees the development of new Bluetooth products. In its ten year history, Bluetooth has had two full version cycles, each with minor incremental upgrades. A "Bluetooth 3.0" is expected to be announced within the next year.
- What Bluetooth does is creates a short range network that is available to any receiving device. For example, if you own a Bluetooth capable computer, printer, cellphone, PDA and headset, you can link all your devices together through a short-range Bluetooth network. You can make calls using your computer's dialer, use your Bluetooth headset to chat wirelessly, and print documents from your PDA. Bluetooth networks are also highly transferrable.
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There have been five major Bluetooth types between its two cycles. These are:
Bluetooth 1.0: This was the first Bluetooth release, and the protocol at this time was very complex. One of the biggest issues with the original Bluetooth 1.0 was cross-compatibility. although many devices used Bluetooth, they each had individual digital
Bluetooth 1.1: The first IEEE-certified Bluetooth release.This signal was almost identical to the 1.0 release, but it improved many of the non-encryption based compatibility issues that plagued the previous version.
Bluetooth 1.2: Made several improvements in the audio frequency transmission. Transmission was faster, and had more security features to reduce interference.
Bluetooth 2.0: This Bluetooth release was the first to introduce high-speed data transfers, which proved useful to the evolving smartphone and PDA market. This Bluetooth was three times as fast as version 1.2, and was also able to manage multiple connections at once.
Bluetooth 2.1: This is the most current Bluetooth release. It has a very fast connection speed, and also has a useful device inquiry system which allows users to easily manage Bluetooth-enabled devices through a singly inquiry utility. Bluetooth 2.1 also has several new security features that activate when the device is in the presence of other short-range transmission devices. - The most obvious feature for Bluetooth-enabled devices is the wireless chat function. Whether you have a Bluetooth-enabled headset for your phone, computer, or even video game console, the ability to chat wirelessly is certainly convenient. Bluetooth enabled devices also feature universal connectivity between one another, and any Bluetooth device can be controlled or synced remotely, within the Personal Area Network range.
- Although Bluetooth security has been improved, it should be noted that no Bluetooth signal is 100% secure. Beware of remote "BlueJacking" attacks which hijack your signal and can send unexpected messages. Also be careful not to send important personal information (such as social security and credit card numbers) over Bluetooth signals.
