2004 CES Bluetooth Report

We’re back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where the big news is wireless – and a technology called Bluetooth is destined to make our lives easier by getting rid of all those wires that are clogging our homes and offices.

There are different flavors of wireless, there’s wi-fi and there’s Bluetooth. Bluetooth is for peripherals. Bluetooth has been around the show for a couple of years and it’s taken a little time to for it to catch steam but manufacturers were at CES in full force with Bluetooth enabled gadgets that run the gamut.

Logitech diNovo Media Desktop
If you have a PC that doesn’t have Bluetooth built in, Logitech has a solution called the diNovo Media Desktop. For $250 it comes with a wireless keyboard, mouse, and Media Pad which allows you to wirelessly access your library of digital pictures and music. But it’s the Bluetooth Wireless Hub that’s worth every penny of this system. When it’s not recharging the wireless mouse, it allows you to exchange data between your PC and a Bluetooth PDA, a cell phone, or a printer. All these devices can be linked without wires and work up to 30 feet away from any PC. www.logitech.com

Bluetooth CAR-100
Not much larger than a matchbox, the Bluetooth CAR-100 has two gears and can be navigated from up to 32 feet distance with a phone’s keypad or joystick. Easily paired with a mobile phone, the Bluetooth car will provide hours of fun, either racing against other cars or solely navigating down the street or the floor. Only available as a limited edition, the Bluetooth car is set to attract gadget enthusiasts and collectors alike. www.sonyericsson.com

palmOne Tungsten T3
PalmOne's Tungsten T3 handheld is palmOne's first device that features a color screen in landscape, as well as portrait mode. The screen display is 50 percent larger than on any previous models, and the new soft input screen area provides a virtual Graffiti 2 writing area. The Tungsten T3 also features faster Bluetooth setup embedded in the handheld, a wireless communications suite, fast XScale processor, 64MB of RAM, and more. $399. www.palmOne.com/tungstenT3.

One of the things that’s important about Bluetooth is that it’s a cross industry standard. So companies as diverse as the computer industry, or in the consumer electronics industry, or even the automotive industry can build products that work together and you can connect them without a wire.

For more information on Bluetooth visit www.bluetooth.com