Tag Archives: bluetooth

The computer of the future will be your mobile phone – revisited

Computer Aid Posted on by

Back in January 2006, I wrote an article on my vision on the future of computers.

For a recap, take a look at:

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Computer-of-the-Future-Will-be-Your-Mobile-Phone&id=135735

In 3 years, I can say a lot of progress has happened.

Smartphones based on the windows mobile platform, Googles android platform, and of course the iphone platform have improved “computing” usability.

You can now buy a smartphone that can read/synchronise your emails & calendar, GPS can help you navigate, you can play music and videos, use them as a usb drive, surf the internet, use a messenger client, etc

Smart phones have become more powerful, with CPU speeds up to 1000Mhz (!), and some now have integrated graphics accelerators (!!). Dual-core processors are just aroung the corner.

pdakeyboard

But my original idea of having a bluetooth-like connection to a wireless keyboard and mouse, is already here. But wireless bluetooth-like connection to a monitor hasn’t happened yet.

The closest I’ve seen are:

  • USB to dvi adaptors – OK, its not wireless, but an interesting way to plug multiple monitors into a laptop. How long before we have a wireless version might depend on an enterprising individual who sees a potential market.
  • Displaylink – This is really exciting technology. As long as you have a Displaylink-capable monitor, you can plug it into an existing PC or Mac (no support for linux and smartphones 🙁 ), and you can have an extra display without getting a fancy video card… You can have up to 6 monitors connected to one PC. If only this technology can be adapted to use bluetooth, and support added for smartphones…

You might be thinking: why bother? The resolution is going to be low.

Firstly, some modern smartphones have resolutions of 800 X 480, ie: reasonable.

Secondly, there is no reason why smartphones can’t run displays like laptops, where the resolution of the built-in LCD can be lower than the resolution of an external monitor.

So, is it theoretically possible to use existing technology to utilise a smartphone as a “PC”?

Yes, as long as someone develops a Displaylink driver for smartphones.

But can a monitor be used wirelessly?

Well, USB 2.0 is now capable of displaying onto a monitor, and the data transfer rates are 480 Mbits/s

Bluetooth 1.2 is only capable of transferring data at 721 kbit/s (ie not fast enough)

Bluetooth 2.0 tops out at 2Mbits/s … still not fast enough

Bluetooth 3.0 has just been released (April 2009), and uses wifi to reach speeds of 24Mbits/s … also not fast enough. To get a true “laptop in your pocket” effect, you will need speeds about 20 times faster than Bluetooth 3.0.

Wifi running 802.11n is promising: about 100Mbps to 200Mbps

So, it looks like good wireless monitors will take a while yet.

problems with wireless bluetooth keyboard and mouse

Computer Aid Posted on by

This is the second time I’ve installed a new Dell PC with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I wonder if anyone else is having the same problems?

During the initial startup (while windows XP/vista completes its installation & asks about timezones, etc), the mouse and keyboard work just fine.

But after the usual restart, dell insists on running a post-setup utility to configure your bluetooth, during which you completely lose keyboard and mouse functionality.

Its at precisely this point, that the utility asks you to “click OK” or just locks up. Grrr

I also find these new PCs lack the usual PS2 plugs for keyboards and mice (so I now have to hunt around for a usb mouse / keyboard)

In one case, I still couldn’t get the acer utility to do its job… I had to go to the vista control panel, run device manager, and manually install the bluetooth driver…

The keyboard was easy enough (the blootooth code is printed under the keyboard)…

But the mouse had NO indication of the bluetooth code (neither in/around the mouse, nor in the paperwork).

I try to tell the setup program to use no bluetooth code, but it doesn’t work… but it eventually does after the 4th try (and switching off my mobile, bluetooth headset, and the bluetooth keyboard!)

My first exposure to bluetooth keyboards and mice has not been a good one!