To some, utopia is a world without borders. To me, however, it’s a world without wires! In my line of work, it’s easy to get tied up completely in knots. From networking to the many wires and cords that make a P.C. tick, it’s enough to cause you to wake up in a cold sweat. Even Wi-Fi is false advertising because actual wires are needed along the way to complete the network and make everything work. To the consumer, Wi-Fi is wireless, but the technician sees “the man behind the curtain”. For this, and many other reasons actually, I’ve become a huge fan of Bluetooth. I have a feeling you will be too by the end of this post!
First and foremost, what is Bluetooth exactly? I defer to our friends at Wikipedia for the textbook answer: “A wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz from fixed and mobile devices, and building personal area networks (PANs). ” On second thought, that really doesn’t clear things up very much now does it? The key takeaway from the Wikipedia definition is that Bluetooth is wireless and is used for “exchanging data over short distances”. You can expect Bluetooth to keep its signal within 33 feet while using a mobile device. Again, from Wikipedia: “Bluetooth is managed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which has more than 25,000 member companies in the areas of telecommunication, computing, networking, and consumer electronics. The Bluetooth SIG oversees development of the specification, manages the qualification program, and protects the trademarks. A manufacturer must make a device meet Bluetooth SIG standards to market it as a Bluetooth device.” What’s important to understand here is, because the Bluetooth SIG keeps a clamp on their technology, any Bluetooth device you purchase will work. Period. There’s no incompatibility to worry about, which makes this technology appealing. If you own a smartphone, or pretty much any cell phone newer than a flip phone, it’s Bluetooth enabled. Apple products have been since 2002. Many new desktop and laptop computers are also able to connect to Bluetooth devices. If yours isn’t, purchase a USB Bluetooth adapter for around fifteen bucks from your favorite electronics store.
So now that we know what Bluetooth is, why should we care? Is your car Bluetooth enabled? If it is, you can make hands free calls with the touch of a button on the steering wheel…and avoid paying a hefty fine in the process! When your phone is “paired” with your car, you can also listen to music that’s stored on your phone, as well as play audio from any app that you may have downloaded. Remember, you’ll be using your data if you’re playing music from an app. Read last week’s post, “Don’t Let Data Charges GOBBLE You Up” for more information. Using your phone in the car is one Bluetooth advantage, but let me tell you about another. As I’ve mentioned in prior Blog posts, I love music. It isn’t often that I’m not listening to music while I work or play. One of my favorite things to do during the summer is to bring my Bluetooth speaker down to the pool (along with some drinks and snacks of course), and listen to music using my SiriusXM app on my iPhone. During the winter, I take it out to the garage with me while I’m working, or down to play pool in the basement with family and friends. The quality of the audio from my new Bose speaker is just incredible, especially for the size of the thing, and the speaker holds a charge for hours. If you’re interested in learning more about the speaker I’m talking about, click here. I previously had a JAM Plus portable speaker. That worked very well for the money. Unfortunately, they tend to not work so well when your wife drops them. We went through two actually. Click here for a link to that particular speaker. Let’s not forget about the health benefits that can be gained from Bluetooth. Many of the fitness trackers on the market are Bluetooth enabled so they can be synced with your phone and the calories you’ve consumed can be plugged into an app on your smartphone. The fitness tracker will keep track of your step count, and tell you how many calories you’ve burned over the course of the day. A Fitbit is an example of such a device. Click here for a link to one of those.
Now that I’ve sold you on a Bluetooth speaker (they’re great at the beach too), how do you connect it to your phone? Well, first turn on your Bluetooth device (speaker, headphones, etc.). Read the directions that come with that device about “pairing” it with your mobile device. For instance, the JAM Plus I spoke about earlier requires you to hold down the play button on the device until the status light blinks rapidly. Ensure that Bluetooth is turned on on your phone. Do this by tapping “Settings” then “Bluetooth” and selecting “On” or tapping the “switch” on an Apple device until it turns green. A list of devices within range will appear under that. Tap the name of the device you’re trying to pair with your phone, choose “Connect”, and follow the prompts. You should only have to do that once, as the device will connect automatically whenever it is turned on and your phone is in range.
One thing you can be sure about with technology is that it’s forever changing. Remember the days of lugging a boombox outside and running an extension cord so you could listen to music outside? Don’t forget about tuning the antenna just right so you could pick up your favorite radio station. Well, those days are gone thanks to Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth really does set you free!