Mobile computing is one of the fastest growing technologies within computers. More and more users want to be able to connect wirelessly from wherever they are. The business world thrives on this technology and the ability to connect to the Internet wirelessly at their clients offices or while doing presentations. Most laptop manufacturers are even including wireless receivers as a standard option in their computers because of the vast growth and need of this technology. If you have purchased a laptop or any other mobile computing device, you probably heard the words “Bluetooth” and “Wi-Fi” thrown around. But what do these technologies do and how are they different?
Bluetooth - The Bluetooth technology began over 13 years ago in 1994. Typically, Bluetooth is a lower powered and shorter range (30 feet) networking capability that transmits at a pretty decent speed around 800 kilobits per second. In general, the purpose of Bluetooth is to replace many of the annoying wires that you must have to connect your devices. For example, with the use of Bluetooth, you can wirelessly connect to any compatible printers, cell phones, laptops or notebooks. Bluetooth reduces the amount of time and cables you need to accomplish your tasks. Bluetooth also makes it easy to transfer files between your Bluetooth device and a Bluetooth enabled device of one of your friends, colleagues or business associates. Many laptops, notebooks, cell phones and PDA’s include built-in Bluetooth capabilities.
Wi-Fi - Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have their similarities but the main purpose of Wi-Fi is to connect you to the internet where you can surf the web at broadband speeds. Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity and conforms to the IEEE 802.11b standards. Wi-Fi has a much broader range and can connect to any “hot spot” within 300 feet. The growth of Wi-Fi since its introduction in 1998 has been enormous. Many businesses are using Wi-Fi to entice customers to visit their store and connect from their laptops. Starbucks coffee shops are one of the most popular to include free Wi-Fi to its customers. Because of security concerns, businesses have been slower to adopt Wi-Fi but as security measures are taken, more and more businesses are dropping their LAN’s and incorporating a Wi-Fi system in their business locations. The ultimate test of popularity is to determine if the average computer user uses the technology. Wi-Fi is definitely the standard in home networking solutions. Many home users are beginning to set up their home networks so they can browse the internet from any location in their homes.
As you can see, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are different but complimenting technologies that can be very effective when used together. Bluetooth gives you the ability to easily and quickly transfer data to another Bluetooth user or devices like printers, laptops, etc. and Wi-Fi gives you the ability to connect to the Internet wirelessly when you are within the range of a Wi-Fi hotspot. The complete growth of these two technologies is still something to look forward to.
[...] The iPhone also works as an MP3 player judging from its memory capability. With 4G or 8G of memory, you can store even videos in the website. Because of this, the iPhone also comes with iTunes. There you’ll see the necessity of having an internet connection, and Apple answers that concern. Instead of using 3G or HDPS or any mumbled terms we’re not aware of, iPhone can easily connect to the Internet via WiFi which is nearly everywhere right now. Some see it as a disadvantage but most see it as a good thing to connect to the net. Now you can download all the movies and music you want in your iPhone using the Internet. On the other hand, Apple has also announced the release of an iPhone that can connect to 3G. Of course you can still update your phone using the phone dock to sync your files with your computer. [...]
Pingback by Apple iPhone Finally Launching on June 29th — June 27, 2007 @ 5:34 pm