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Bluetooth, first introduced by Ericcson in 1994, has seen growing popularity in recent years. The integration of computers, stand alone devices, cellular handsets, and far more, grants a greater ability to integrate than ever before. Bluetooth is one of the few technologies that successfully stands toe-to-toe with wireless internet, partially because the technology provides many personal and professional applications.
Bluetooth technology was popularized largely thanks to Bluetooth headsets. These allow for a completely hands-free connection between a cellular device and your headset. As the ideas became more popular, Bluetooth technologies were applied to computer and internet technologies. Since Bluetooth cellular phones were already equipped with the needed hardware, the first creative advances were in synchronizing phones and computers. This provided advantages in the rate of transfer, ease of setup, and took less bandwidth than a standard wireless network.
Once it was clear that computers could effectively communicate at a high rate of speed with Bluetooth devices, developers in a number of computer related fields began to take hold of the hardware, leading to a new world of possibilities. The most common seen in practical use today are direct communication devices like Bluetooth keyboards and mice. Bluetooth technologies have also seen success with printers and other office solutions, however. Computers equipped with Bluetooth can also communicate with each other, enabling Ethernet bridging, advanced wireless networking, and dial-up conenctions via data enabled handheld devices, primarily on cellular networks.
With new developers familiarizing themselves with the technology, it’s not surprising that other creative technologies have hit the market. Items that were previously based on serial or infrared communication, such as medical equipment, traffic controllers, hi-tech remotes, and more, all use Bluetooth. New video gaming is also centered around Bluetooth, at least as far as Wii, PS3, and PSP Go edition controllers are concerned.
While it may have taken Bluetooth a while to really hit the mainstream, this innovative medium has exploded in recent years. Most cellular devices currently come with Bluetooth equipped, computers frequently have it by default, and more outside devices use it. In brief: Bluetooth is here to stay.
