Home | Stories | Reviews | TreoCast | Treo Store | Accessories | Software | Discussion | Mobile | About | Search
 
treocentral.com >> Stories >> TreoCentral
Not the time for Bluetooth on the Treo

Mon Sep 6, 2004 - 4:58 PM EDT - By Michael Ducker

The Challenge

On June 14th, 2004 TreoCentral user manorton had an idea. In a post on the forums he proposed,

How about offering a reward/bribe for drivers that work with a BT SD card for the Treo 600? Perhaps we have an accumulating kitty like a reverse eBay. I'll start it with $100 and everyone else can toss in their two cents. Is it something TreoCentral could manage/publicize?

There has to be a programmer or two within Palm, HandSpring or wherever that has done some work/experimenting on this.


It was a seemingly great idea, so I pledged TreoCentral's resources to manage and publicize the idea. A day later, the TreoCentral Bluetooth Bounty was born.

A working Bluetooth driver is a driver that enables the use of a common Bluetooth SD card (Toshiba's, PalmOne's, or Socket's) in the Treo. However, Bluetooth would be useless without drivers written for certain applications. To win the bounty, this driver must enable the Treo to at minimum wirelessly sync to a desktop and exchange files through Bluetooth. The best part of Bluetooth on a Treo is the ability to use wireless Bluetooth headsets. Therefore this driver must also enable the Treo to use a Bluetooth headset (added 6/17). Ideally a driver would sync files/hotsync, work with headsets, allow the Treo to be a Bluetooth modem, and enable the use of Bluetooth GPS. Only the first two on that list are required... The Bluetooth Bounty will expire on September 6, 2004. Any possible driver must be completed before that date to win the bounty.


Bluetooth for those who are unaware, is a technology that allows for devices to communicate with each other over short distances. Bluetooth technology has standards, or profiles for everything from wireless headsets to wireless data transfer. Most high-tech cellphones, and almost all high end PDAs have Bluetooth built into their device so it was surprising and disappointing that the Treo 600 did not have internal Bluetooth. For many, Bluetooth is incredibly useful. For example, I am currently in a coffee shop writing this article on my PowerBook. I will post it to TreoCentral using a bluetooth connection from my Powerbook to a Sprint Sony Ericsson T608. I can do this by pressing one button on my powerbook to connect to the phone, and the phone can stay in my laptop bag without me ever having touched it.

For those devices that did not have built in Bluetooth, there are many expansion cards on the market, in CF and SD form, to add the feature to devices. Sadly, the drivers for these cards were only available for Pocket PC and Palm OS 4.0 handhelds. A Treo 90, Handspring's last PDA product, for example, could use Bluetooth.


Next Page: The Results >>



Treo accessory store
 
References
Actions
> Print this page
> Digg!





Cases

Chargers

Bluetooth

Headsets

Keyboards

Memory
Protectors Cradles
Styli


More Treo Accessories

 Leather Side Case
Palm Side Case
Side-loading leather belt clip case
Just $24.95 BUY

More Side Cases
Stylus (2 Pack)
Palm Stylus (2 Pack) for Treo Pro
Keep extras at home and at the office.
Just $14.95 BUY

More Styli
Treo Screen Protectors  (3-Pack)
Screen Protectors for Treo
Protect your screen!
Just $12.95 BUY

More Screen Protectors
Charger
Palm Charger for Centro, Treo
Charger for your Palm handheld
Just $14.95 BUY

More Wall Chargers
UltraSlim SkinCase
SPE UltraSlim SkinCase for Treo 755p, Treo 750
Half the thickness, better keyboard access
Just $9.95 BUY

More Skin Cases
Leather Zip Case
Palm Leather Zip Case for Pixi

Just $36.95 BUY

More Pocket Pouches
Slip Case
Palm Slip Case for Pixi

Just $27.95 BUY

More Pocket Pouches
H17 Bluetooth Headset
Motorola H17 Bluetooth Headset

Just $89.95 BUY

More Wireless Headsets
Micro-USB Travel Charger, Touchstone Compatible
Seidio Micro-USB Travel Charger,Touchstone Compatible for Palm Pixi, Pre

Just $19.95 BUY

More Wall Chargers
Media Cable for iPod
RedFly Media Cable for iPod for Treo Pro, Treo 800w, Treo 750, Treo 700wx, Treo 700w

Just $29.95 BUY

More Mobile Companion
BackBeat 903 Stereo Bluetooth Headset
Plantronics BackBeat 903 Stereo Bluetooth Headset

Just $89.95 BUY

More Wireless Headsets
Cruiser Bluetooth Car Kit Speakerphone
Jabra Cruiser Bluetooth Car Kit Speakerphone

Just $89.95 BUY

More Speakerphones
HS-500 Bluetooth Headset
BlackBerry HS-500 Bluetooth Headset

Just $69.95 BUY

More Wireless Headsets
 
 
Creating smartphone communities
Android Central - Android reviews, news and forums Crackberry - Blackberry news, reviews and community TiPb - iPhone news, accessory reviews & forums
Pre Central - Palm Pre Review, News and Community Treo Central - Treo & Centro News and Forums WMExperts - Windows Mobile Reviews & News

Copyright 1999-2009 TreoCentral. All rights reserved : Terms of Use : Privacy Policy

TREO and TreoCentral are trademarks or registered trademarks of palm, Inc. in the United States and other countries;
the TreoCentral mark and domain name are used under license from palm, Inc.
The views expressed on this website are solely those of the proprietor, or
contributors to the site, and do not necessarily reflect the views of palm, Inc.

Explore more: The iPhone Blog | WM Experts | Crackberry | CentroSpot | Android Central
Smartphone Accessories: Windows Mobile Accessories | iPhone Accessories | Blackberry Accessories
Fuze Accessories | G1 Accessories | Xperia Accessories | Touch Accessories | Instinct Accessories
Bold Accessories | Blackjack Accessories | HTC Accessories | Centro Accessories | Motorola Q Accessories
Mogul Accessories | Tilt Accessories | Nokia n95 Accessories | Duo Accessories | Verizon XV Accessories
Dash Accessories | Shadow Accessories | Voyager Accessories | Venus Accessories | Touch Accessories
Curve Accessories | Dare Accessories | Venus Accessories | Curve Accessories | Bold Accessories
Omnia Accessories | Incite Accessories | Epix Accessories | Saga Accessories Pre Accessories