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

Mon Sep 6, 2004 - 1:58 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

 Charger Kit
Palm Charger Kit for Centro, Treo
The charger kit for the jet set crowd
Just $9.95 BUY

More Wall Chargers
Retractable S&C Cable
Seidio Retractable S&C Cable for Centro, Treo
Reduce cable clutter!
Just $8.95 BUY

More USB Cables
Innocell 1750mAh Extended Battery
Seidio Innocell 1750mAh Extended Battery for Treo Pro

Just $42.95 BUY

More Batteries
SafeGuard Holster
SPE SafeGuard Holster for Treo 700p, 700w|wx, 650, 600
The best Treo holster yet!
Just $6.95 BUY

More Holsters
XGPS150 Universal Bluetooth GPS Receiver
Dual XGPS150 Universal Bluetooth GPS Receiver

Just $89.95 BUY

More GPS Receivers
Smart Phone Sleeper for HP Pre 3 / Palm Pre 2, Pre Plus, Pre / Centro, Treo Pro

Just $34.95 BUY

More Holders
kuel H10 Stylus Pen
SGP kuel H10 Stylus Pen

Just $12.99 BUY

More Styli
EHS60 3.5mm Stereo Headset
Samsung EHS60 3.5mm Stereo Headset

Just $22.95 BUY

More Stereo Headsets
Micro-USB Car Charger w/USB Port
Mobi Micro-USB Car Charger w/USB Port

Just $9.95 BUY

More Car Chargers
EHS63 3.5mm Stereo Headset
Samsung EHS63 3.5mm Stereo Headset

Just $42.95 BUY

More Stereo Headsets
ProDock Alumina
iBOLT ProDock Alumina

Just $34.95 BUY

More Car Mounts
Performance Mobile Earphones
Qmadix Performance Mobile Earphones

Just $34.95 BUY

More Stereo Headsets
Waterproof Pro-Sport Arm Pack
OverBoard Waterproof Pro-Sport Arm Pack

Just $31.95 BUY

More Weather Resistant Cases
 
 

Copyright 1999-2013 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.
Read Merciful by Casey Adolfsson