f13.net

Well, I have had the time to play around a fair bit with the N-Guage QD I got as part of the Pocket Kingdom promotion thing, and so far have very little to complain about.  The two main problems being that it gets fairly uncomfortable holding the thing close to your ear after even a moderately short time, and the fact that it doesent have a PC cable interface.  Instead, it uses Bluetooth.

Now, being a compulsive techno weenie, I HATE having a device lying around that I am not using to its full potential (that, and I absolutely REFUSE to pay to download ringtones and shit like that) so I want to get this thing connected to my PC.

I am also desperately in need of a new Keyboard (this thing is off the 386 the family bought 10+ years ago), so I got to thinking, Why not get a Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse combo package?

Just figured I would ask the f13 tech heads for their input.  Is this a good idea? Assuming I get a Bluetooth KB/Mouse set, will the basestation recognise my QD? Is this stuff going to cost me an arm and a leg?  Any products/name brands that you would reccomend?

Well this one will cost you at least an arm (but it comes with a Bluetooth hub):

(http://www.logitech.com/lang/images/0/2488.jpg)

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2158,CONTENTID=7321

I've been wondering about the Bluetooth stuff myself. Since the N-Gage QD can run Java or Symbian applications, I'd love to download something useful (PDA-type stuff and maybe an MP3 player) and turn my N-Gage into more than a crosissant I talk into when I'm grocery shopping or playing with while waiting in line.

Bluetooth is certainly cool. I bought the Microsoft Bluetooth Explorer set, which comes with a bluetooth USB dongle. (mouse + keyboard + usb dongle = $140). Works great, except you have to have SP2 installed.. won't even install the drivers without it.

Other than that, it works awesome and I can switch to using the mouse with my PowerBook's built-in bluetooth pretty easily.

I use it for games without problems, though it does go to sleep so you might have to wiggle the mouse to get it to wakeup if you leave it for 5-10 mins. Keyboard is the same way but it actually queues up your keystrokes and after it reconnects (takes 1 second) it sends all your keystrokes.

Never actually had a bluetooth phone (and from reading all these articles about bluetooth transmitted cellphone viruses, not sure I want one), so can't help you there.

I have a bluetooth enabled cell phone - Nokia, and while I haven't exercised the technology to its fullest capacity, it has been useful in the following manner:

* The PDA features can be synced non-wirelessly with my Powerbook - address book, to-do list, calendar, etc...

* Upload the cheesy cellphone pictures to my Powerbook from Nokia cellphone.

* Can be used as a makeshift cellular modem - laptop uses the cellphone to dial into ISP, bandwidth is limited to 14K, but will do in a pinch if wireless or LAN access is unavailable.

* Want to DL some new rings, have a script to take sheet music, plug it into GarageBand , saving in midi format for DL  (via bluetooth) into cellphone, but haven't played with it yet.

Is it useful in the sense that someone with a Yagi antenna mounted on a sniper rifle can crash your phone, force it to make calls, or steal your personal data from half a mile away?

That's my favorite kind of useful.

Psycho.

That's a pretty cool article, really.  I didn't know Tom's hardware covered events like that.   For that matter, I needed a reminder that hardcore l33t haxx0rz have conventions.

Well, I don't know how other phones work, but by default you have to "authorize" a connecting machine - that is, until you specifically  tell it that device XYZ is able to connect, it won't be abele to access. There may be an option to toggle wide-open access but I believe that would be a foolish move and not worth the one-time setup pain of authorizing an individual device.

Maybe, but software seldom works as designed.  I recommend getting a copy of bluesniff or redfang, running it on your laptop, and seeing if it can find your phone.  If so, try finding bluesnarf and extracting the data off of it.

Also,  check the chart here for your device.

I have the Logitech DiNovo desktop at home. The "ordinary" Logitech Bluetooth set at work. Both are very good and easy to set up (keep your ordinary keyboard, though. Bluetooth isn't that good after that really terrible crash or after a reformat).
The DiNovo is the best set I've ever had and the connection is never trouble - and I can use the mediapad in the kitchen to control my music coming from the pc in the other room. (be advised, that Sid Meiers Pirates HATES the DiNovo Mediapad. Bollocks)

I have a Sony ericsson Bluettoth phone. A Logitech Bluetooth headset, that I rarely use (works like a charm but looks dorky).

And I have a Nokia Bluetooth pen (http://www.oxfordeasybook.com/en/index.htm), which is a nifty toy... and sometimes tool.

I like Bluetooth and recommend using it.
My next purchase will be the Diva Gem (http://www.daisymm.com/l/en/mpz/divagem_det.html) or the O'Neill Hub (http://www.oneilleurope.com/technical/hub.asp) (again with the dorky look)

There are no Bluetooth transmited mobile virusses in the wild and no true tales of money or information lost due to Bluesnarfing or anything like it. Don't worry about hypothetical dangers.

This brings up something I was wondering.  Given the Game capabilities of the N-Guage, and the way they use N-Guage Arena for stuff like Pocket Kingdom PvP duels, does anyone know if it is possible to do the opposite type of connection? IE, instead of spending celphone data bandwidth, could I connect to the iternet through my Bluetooth Hub and dedicated cable line?

Depends on the device from what I understand - I think I can do this with my Nokia, but I haven't done it yet. I know that I can use it to dial PC or get PC to use mobile internet plan…