This past week I picked up a Bluetooth adapter for my computer. I figured since I have a Bluetooth enabled PDA and phone, a Bluetooth adapter for my computer would finally allow me to take advantage of their wireless capabilities. After a few days of using Bluetooth, I can say that buying a Bluetooth adapter is probably the best twenty dollars I have spent in a long time. The capabilities of Bluetooth are endless.

If you’re like most people, when you think of Bluetooth you think of syncing devices. Bluetooth is perfect for that. Programs like Palm’s Hotsync or Apple’s iSync allow you to easily keep your mobile devices’ data in sync with your computer. No more messy wires to deal with when doing this. However, that’s not all that Bluetooth can do.

When creating a Bluetooth network you’re creating a Personal Area Network between two devices. That PAN can carry just about any type of data imaginable, making it perfect for a number of uses outside device syncing.

Free Phone Transfers

Bluetooth is not only for ease of use, it can save you some money also. If you have a Bluetooth phone with OBEX enabled, you can browse your phone’s data from your computer. What this will allow you to do is add ringtones, videos, wallpapers, and screen savers to your phone for free. If you have a camera phone, you can also download the pictures that you took to your computer. This can really save you some money because you won’t have to purchase the various items in your carrier’s store. On top of that, you can make custom ringtones, etc.; something you normally can not do.

PDA to Phone Capabilities

All new Palm PDAs come with Bluetooth, and this can be of use to you if you have a Bluetooth phone also. Palm specifically built their PDAs with Bluetooth phones in mind, so many of their applications work wonderfully with a phone connected to your PDA. Take for example Palm’s contact list. You can just click a contact’s dial icon and your phone will automatically start dialing that number. Hate typing on your phone? You can use your Palm to send text messages and emails. Finally, if you subscribe to a mobile web service through your phone carrier, you can take that mobile web interface over to your Palm for easier web browsing.

Use Your PDA or Phone as a Remote

One of my favorite uses of Bluetooth is to control my computer from across the room. A program called Salling Clicker (Shareware, $23.95) allows me to use my PDA or phone to do just that. Salling Clicker can control Apple’s Front Row, iTunes, Powerpoint, or any other program through its powerful scripting interface. Imagine presenting a Powerpoint while walking around the room, having your notes right on your PDA’s screen. Or, sitting back on your couch watching some vidcasts in Front Row. All of that is possible with Salling Clicker and Bluetooth.

Conclusions

The Bluetooth uses listed above are really just the tip of the iceberg for the technology. People are already using Bluetooth for wireless printing, wireless headsets, and downloading pictures off of their digital cameras. In the near future, devices like Apple’s iPod, Sony’s PS3, and Nintendo’s Revolution will all be using Bluetooth, so the uses of Bluetooth still have barely been tapped. If things pan out for Bluetooth, maybe Bill Gates’ vision of all devices talking to each other isn’t too far from reality after all.