Bluetooth phones and the services?

[m00n]

I'm looking at getting a new PDA / Phone with bluetooth. I already have a cingular account. So the phone would be an upgrade. Have any of you had any bad experiances with upgrading to a blue tooth? Are there any hidden fees, or hidden anything that you were not aware of.

[flannj]

My wife has a phone with Bluetooth and her car is Bluetooth capable (Audi A4). No extra costs involved for using it (other than the initial cost for the option). It works very well and I would recommend the option to anyone thinking about it. The only negative is that it runs the battery down on the phone about twice as fast as normal.

Sort of on the same line, I have an IMac at home with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Great for getting wires off of your workspace but the mouse eats batteries.

No, it doesn't leave little lithium droppings on the desk.

[picky]

m00n: I have been using a Motorola V551 flip phone (Cingular, now AT&T) with Bluetooth now for over 2 years and with the right Motorola software ("Motorola Phone Tools" about $30 bucks) it makes life a lot easier. I can transfer sounds, photos, ringtones, calendars, phone books and any other type of data back and forth from my phone wirelessly to my Bluetooth-equipped laptop and desktop PCs. The Bluetooth wireless connection is cost-free and works up to about 30 feet away from devices. I also uses a hands-free Motorola H700 headset while driving (no software required). My phone stays in the holster on my belt and I can answer calls and make voice-dialed calls all day long. I haven;t noticed it sapping my phone's battery, but I do notice that sometimes I'll hit some sort of Bluetooth "dead-zone" while driving through a particular area and my head set will occasionally drop a call. But, it's really no biggie. I like mine and I understand that they have improved on Bluetooth's perfomance since mine was released with newer versions. Some of the new music (MP3)-player phones even have stereo Bluetooth! Best of luck! -Glenn

[m00n]

I guess my concerns are all these new features, they all sound so good. Things like WiFi, all the Bluetooth connectivity.... I simply have not done any research on any of these technologies for phones... So things like WiFi, does that cost extra in your plan? Does Bluetooth generally cost more? As I understand it, Bluetooth is like a little mini networking capability right?

[WMcD]

I'm sort of looking at PDA and I too am a Cingular customer.

Bluetooth is a wireless standard which allows external stuff to be connected to the phone - - the phone has a little transmitter and receiver.. The most obvious application is the use of a wireless headset. Some states or cities require the driver of a car to use a headset rather than hold the phone in a hand. Also If you have data service, you might be able to use the phone as a modem with a laptop, if the laptop has Bluetooth.

WiFi is just a wireless internet connection. You office may have "Wifi" or "IEEE 802.11" wireless internet. Some libraries, colleges, coffee houses, airports, etc. have WiFi, sometimes for free. [but Starbucks has T-Mobile for a monthly or daily fee] So you essentially are getting a tiny laptop with capability for wireless internet. You have to find a wireless "hotspot" to use it though.

Data service. There is an extra charge by Cingular of $30 per month for data service. With it you can get the Internet, E-mail, IM. There are different systems but essentially they are in most major cities; sort of like cell phone service. Your PDA will have the necessary software / hardware. Cingular will sell you a PDA at a discount of about $100 if you commit to two years of data service ($720 roughly). I believe simple text messaging is included the basic cell phone service.

MS Mobile Office: This software comes with many PDAs. I want it so that I can export my phone number and addresses. I also play with spreadsheets and some wordprocessing.

Gil

[damonrpayne]

I just ordered the AT&T Tilt.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/smartphone/details.mspx?id=e03c4483-a898-4ebb-a0e8-5f58c7547269&backUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.microsoft.com%2fwindowsmobile%2fsmartphone%2fdefault.mspx

Programming embedded devices is a big part of my job so I got this with the intention of writing some code for it. My company mail is Exchange so I can be bothered with nonsense anytime, anywhere using this little gem. What type of application should I write for this thing? I could port my room mode analyzer, or maybe what I really need is an enclosure designer ready at hand any time?

m00n, you've got me on MSN messenger, ping me if you have questions.

[m00n]

I'm thinking the predicesor to the tilt... The AT&T 8525

[picky]

Does Bluetooth generally cost more? As I understand it, Bluetooth is like a little mini networking capability right?

Bluetooth is free; your cellular or WiFi service does not come into play. It's simply a radio system that works directly between your phone and the Bluetooth device it is paired with such as a headset. It works so long as the phone and device are within about 30 feet of eachother. -Glenn

[dkp]

I purchased a bluetooth earpiece (I believe it's the same one Picky uses) and stopped using it more for practical reasons than anything else. I found that my previous vehicle simply had too much background noise for the mic. The person on the other end of the call could hear me, but often remarked that I was difficult to make out due to the excess noise. There is a volume control on the earpiece which allows you to dial in the volume, which also controls the sensivity of the mic. My car was just too noisy for the mic. Food for thought...

-David