Bluetooth Technology Examined

Let’s take a look at Bluetooth technology. Most if us have heard of it, many of us have it in our cell phones, and my guess is that most of us don’t know how to use it, or just don’t bother.

The most obvious and widely seen applications of Bluetooth are those hands-free headsets used as companions to cell phones. Just clip on the fancy earpiece with the eerie blinking blue light, and it becomes possible to leave one’s cell phone in one’s pocket permanently. If it rings, just say hello into the Bluetooth earpiece and away you go with your conversation. It can be confusing for those around you, because all they can see is that suddenly you are having an animated conversation with yourself. I have acquaintances that use it all the time and they say it’s indispensable, though personally I don’t find un-flipping my flip phone all that inconvenient.

After doing some reading in one of my favorite guy magazines (not what you’re thinking, I’m talking Popular Mechanics), I have discovered that the Bluetooth headset is one of the more mundane Bluetooth technologies available.

Anyone buying a new car today with a trim level beyond basic is almost certainly buying a Bluetooth-enabled car. Similar to the Bluetooth headset, it removes the hassle of actually having to reach for one’s cell phone; instead, just push a button on the steering wheel and the 46 speaker stereo system switches to phone mode and one now has a hands-free phone, emanating from all 46 speakers (so forget about having a private conversation). Actually this makes a lot of sense for road safety – if you have a cigarette going in one hand and burger in the other, you can still answer your phone without dropping the burger in your lap.

Another interesting item I found in Popular Mechanics is the use of Bluetooth to keep your car tires inflated. Apparently there is a mandate for car manufacturers to equip all their models with tire pressure monitoring capabilities for units produced after 2006. The Pirelli tire company has come up with a solution for drivers with older cars – Bluetooth tire valves. This $200 set of valves will send a text message to your cell phone (via Bluetooth) whenever the air pressure in the tires gets too low. It’s true – go ahead and google.

The most bizarre use of Bluetooth that I have come across is the phenomenon of Toothing; originally it was a media hoax claiming that Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones were being used to arrange sexual encounters. It quickly moved from being a hoax to a reality. If you happen to be in a bar in London and you get a text message on your phone with the subject, “Toothing?”, that means somebody with a Bluetooth phone, who is in the same bar as you, finds you attractive and wants to have sex with you. It is up to you to figure out who it is, but it’s most probably the person staring at you maniacally from across the bar. How that person knows it’s your phone they’re sending to I haven’t really figured out yet, but I didn’t understand Speed Dating at first either.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something else whacks you on the side of the head. Welcome to the New Millenium!