Why all devices should have bluetooth anyways...

[s_n_m]

Even if your ultimate clie has wifi, it should still have bluetooth. Why? Because it is the replacement for infrared and in many cases USB!

I don't like to use my cradle, it makes me wait for about 30 seconds while my TG50 syncs (I have docstogo which makes it that long). With bluetooth, it takes about 2 minutes, but I am COMPLETELY free! Free to walk! FREEDOM! OH LORDY I HAVE MY FREEDOM!

Also, like the way you can browse internet with an IR router or an IR cell, you can do the same with bluetooth only BETTER!

Bluetooth will catch on in the US. Trust me.

Sony better not make too many more PDA's without bluetooth...

[madmaxmedia]

If it's as cheap as they say it is, hopefully BT will become the norm on not only PDA's but cell phones too (except for the ultra cheapies.)

I think that will gradually happen. BT internet access would mean more to me than BT hotsyncing (although it is cool.)

[the_tick]

I disagree. Not everyone wants nor needs bluetooth and it adds to the cost of the device. All these wireless devices are nice, but from a security standpoint, they can be a nightmare. Personally, I hope Sony produces both PDAs with bluetooth and PDAs without bluetooth.

I agree that bluetooth does have it uses, but the PDA becomes useless if its banned due to the bluetooth. :(

In addition, I prefer using cables as the transfer rates are much faster (your 30 seconds vs 2 minutes). For the 30 seconds I may be constrained by the cable, but the other 90 seconds I'm free to go anywhere. In the case of bluetooth, your constrained to a limited area for 120 seconds.

Oh well, bluetooth is not for everyone :)

[ashVID]

Right not the market is not demanding bluetooth and on the list of preferred features in the customer surveys it is LESS popular than requesting a serial port connection. I think it is a good thing to go wireless but it is going to have to be FORCED. Once people use it they will like it but right now the public in general just does not care...


ash =o)

[n2ifp]

Originally posted by ashVID
Right not the market is not demanding bluetooth and on the list of preferred features in the customer surveys it is LESS popular than requesting a serial port connection. I think it is a good thing to go wireless but it is going to have to be FORCED. Once people use it they will like it but right now the public in general just does not care...


ash =o)

Right, I don't care, I got my 802.11b WLAN, what more do I need?

[s_n_m]

A bluetooth mouse and keyboard for your Clie/Laptop? A bluetooth webcam? Bluetooth headphones/mp3 remote? I don't know!

[aryaba]

I'm all for bluetooth...I bought a Nokie 3650 phone with bluetooth, just in anticipation of a new clie with bluetooth...then sony release new models WITHOUT bluetooth.

[s_n_m]

Then get a TG50, or a BTMS.

[sindu]

I had BT phone, BT Mac, BT headset, and to complete them, must be another BT Clie

[ZPWeeks]

Originally posted by s_n_m
With bluetooth, it takes about 2 minutes, but I am COMPLETELY free! Free to walk! FREEDOM! OH LORDY I HAVE MY FREEDOM!


I don't use BT myself... But I was wondering how the heck you can't walk away while you're in a cradle??? I mean, does your Clie have to stay attached to you at all times?

Please ignore any cynicism in my post.

[Flash-57]

> I disagree. Not everyone wants nor needs bluetooth
> and it adds to the cost of the device.

Last I heard, a Bluetooth chip was about 50 cents. Besides, most of the time you can get the phone for free.

I'm not sure that cost is a big factor.

[cbulock]

I heard Bluetooth chips where about $5 still. But either way, for a $400-$600 device, it should be included. I rarely use the IrDA port, but it's included anyways. I bet I would get more use out of Bluetooth in the long run.

[archangel]

If it doesn't increase the cost of the handheld by more than a few bucks I've got no problem with it being included. I agree the new NX series units should include it considering what Sony is charging.

[s_n_m]

Sony wants to push the TG50 as the cell companion, not the NX80. Bluetooth makes the TG50 slightly special in the clie line, although it shouldn't (why the TG50 is well-rounded).

[Drachen]

Franky, I think they don't put BT on US Clies because it's not a big selling point in the US. BT hasn't caught on for much except phones, and the vast majority of phones that have BT onboard are GSM. GSM isn't the most popular protocol in the US and there are few CDMA or iDEN phones that have BT. And then, the vast majority of people in the US on GSM carriers are too cheap to buy higher-end phones anyway, so you don't see a lot of T-Mobile or Cingular customers running around with T68i's or 3650s. That's why Sony never came out with the BT MS here and why Palm dumped BT from the T|T to the T|C. If Sony can save $5 in materials when manufacturing the thing with no real real corresponding loss in sales, they'll do it.

[mvfrancisco]

Maybe i'm running around in the wrong circles, but almost everyone I know has the T68i... especially since amazon and T-mobile have been paying people to take them. I'm sure if they had a bluetooth pda or if the BT memstick was even available for them to purchase at circuit city, a lot of the people who got their free T68s would give BT a try.

[ashVID]

Many people do not even understand what bluetooth is. I would say the VAST majority of people I know with t68i's dont use blue tooth and most have no idea what it even is! Like I said, it has to be MARKETED, it is not catching on organically YET. Also to those that say it is so cheap to add, remember, when you add BT you also have to add to your design, get or develope software/drivers/etc. to run it. In Sony's case it is a bit curious as the NX73 obviously has the groundwork done... why not add it to the US/Jap versions?? If Sony is not pushing BT, that is not good news for it's future.


ash =o)

[Perputing]

Someone has said it already, security is the issue. Here in Japan there has been problems with the miss use of IR that some cell phone have. Guys in trains would send a “pick up line” to a pretty girl sitting across from them in a train. Can you imagine the embarrassment? Harassment. Now, how about sending a message by BT… to anyone within range. :mad:

Has anyone any idea of the power consumption of BT? Might this be another factor?

The Wifi is getting all the promotions in Japan. I sync with the stand at home and via Wifi at the office. (Yes, it’s the same computer but it saves resetting the network settings when going from one location to the other.)

[s_n_m]

Bluetooth seems to have no impact on battery life, at least on clies...

Perputing, bluetooth is almost overly secure! You need to have both devices have bluetooth on, you need to pair them (by typing in a password in both phones), and there also are options wether or not you want to accept a file.

[Drachen]

Originally posted by mvfrancisco
Maybe i'm running around in the wrong circles, but almost everyone I know has the T68i... especially since amazon and T-mobile have been paying people to take them.

I think you're running around in better circles than I am. Most people I know are on Sprint, which has one of the worst handset choices of any carrier. The rest have some sort of mid-range or cheap Nokia that wouldn't know data from background radiation. Even among the tech-heads I know, I'm the only one that gives serious thought to mobile data. :mad:

[RyanSalahi]

I have had sprint for a loooong time and have been patiently waiting for a BT phone from them. I am a little more anxious now since I bought a TG50 2 months ago......any rumors of a BT sprint phone on the horizon?

[Drachen]

According to what I've read, SE is getting out of the CDMA game and won't be releasing the T608, which was to be the first BT-enabled Sprint phone. They were supposed to release it next month, but that's up in the air now. Switch to a GSM carrier (T-Mobile, Cingular or AT&T GSM) if you really want BT. If you wait until Nov, you can keep your number.

[RyanSalahi]

Thanks------but that really sucks because I just upped the minutes and it required another 1 year contract...............
Guess I just get to leave the BT light on and pretend!
It's bright as all hell

[Flash-57]

What I am looking for is a very small and basic phone that has bluetooth. So far, every bluetooth phone I've seen has a camera, games, and about a dozen other features that I could care less about.

It's not that I don't want such features, it's that I already have them all on my NZ90 and would be looking for a phone to function as a modem and as a telephone.

But, it seems, that any phone that has the bluetooth "bell" also has to have dozens of other "whistles".