Car kit with Bluetooth Wireless Technology

[Jason Dunn]

<a href="http://commerce.motorola.com/consumer/QWhtml/btcarkit.html">http://commerce.motorola.com/consumer/QWhtml/btcarkit.html</a><br /><br />Yet another wondrous Bluetooth solution - I wonder if it will work?<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/btcarkit.jpg" /><br /><br />"Imagine holding a conversation on your Bluetooth wireless phone while entering a car that has a Motorola Bluetooth car kit. Your phone conversation would automatically transition from the phone to the communication system within the car. You could toss the phone into your briefcase and seamlessly continue your conversation via the communication control panel installed within the car. When the conversation ends, you could choose to initiate another call by using voice dialing features or select to play music from a Bluetooth enabled MP3 player that's also inside the car." Source: Humphrey Riley

[Duncan]

It works. Unusually I saw an actual prototype being demonstrated and it worked without a flaw! There has to be ome kind of medal for this surely? :)

[Tom Eichers]

Looks Cool, but the trouble is that Bluetooth seems to be stuck. I think WiFi might just blow right by it. Everybody is buying WiFi stuff because it seems the Bluetooth stuff is always right around the corner, just wait it will be out. I passed on a Bluetooth enabled iPaq because I could not see anything I wanted it to communicate with. :?

Lets just drop Bluetooth and go ahead with 1 system.

[Paragon]

- I wonder if it will work?



Good one! :D

How about this.... drop the MP3 player and add GPS?

Dave

[kagayaki1]

Well, I know we could talk about Wi-Fi versus Bluetooth until we're blue in the face, but I still believe there is a place for both of them. I agree that last December when the iPAQ 3870 first came out, many questioned why they put BT in it due to the lack of devices to communicate with. But since then, OEMs have proved that there is interest in the technology by implementing it in many more items than were available at the time.

This car system seems like a fairly practical use of BT, and I applaud Motorola. I love their BT headset (which will probably work with this system somehow). Why not use Wi-Fi instead? Two words: battery life. One must ask themselves if the interoperability of 802.11b outweighs having to charge the device every hour. :roll:

[JonnoB]

Well, I know we could talk about Wi-Fi versus Bluetooth until we're blue in the face, but I still believe there is a place for both of them.


I think there have been a few dedicated board threads to this topic and they usually sputter from analytical views of how they are different and solve different problems to the final conclusion that they overlap more than they don't and both have pros and cons.

Why not use Wi-Fi instead? Two words: battery life. One must ask themselves if the interoperability of 802.11b outweighs having to charge the device every hour. :roll:

I would assume that while in a car, the car enabled reciever is recieving it's own power and that a PDA could easily have a place to charge itself. Of course, if there is a 'docking' station.... is there any benefit to wireless? :D

[Arne Hess]

Lets just drop Bluetooth and go ahead with 1 system.
Completely wrong! Bluetooth is the better standard for this kind of connectivity! It starts from lower power consumption and ends with specific profiles like Voice and I'm not talking about VoIP!
It seems as the Americans don't trust Bluetooth at all, here in Europe it's making its way and will do it too any time in the US!

[JonnoB]

Lets just drop Bluetooth and go ahead with 1 system.
Completely wrong! Bluetooth is the better standard for this kind of connectivity! It starts from lower power consumption and ends with specific profiles like Voice and I'm not talking about VoIP!
It seems as the Americans don't trust Bluetooth at all, here in Europe it's making its way and will do it too any time in the US!

I just knew people would get emotional about it. Both are great technologies, both intentionally serve two different purposes. I see BT as a wireless replacement for short cables. WiFi is wireless networking. What is happening with networking however is that packet switching is becoming more useful for other tasks... don't laugh, VoIP will be the norm and you won't know about it. Verizon has said it is changing it's switching infrastructure to do this and your GSM phone will be doing VoIP on their back-end. The point is, IP has become more useful and flexible and is creeping into other applications. As IP networking replaces other forms of cabling and communication, wireless IP (WiFi) will be found to be useable as a short-range cable replacement. Although designed for different applications, I see a head on collision coming.

[Terry]

It will work, but the car kit will have a separate ESN so we'll wind up needing to have two accounts with our cellular company!
8O

[bblock]

I'm sorry, but for all that have read this far, I just have to post on this. As I was driving into work this morning (an hour), I realized I forgot my cell headset at home. After spending 15 minutes on the phone, I thought, "why doesn't someone make a Bluetooth car hands-free kit that your phone automatically transitions to when you enter?" I hadn't seen it before, and thought it's a perfect application of Bluetooth technology.


So I get home, and read this post. How wierd is that?

[angelseye2000]

Lets just drop Bluetooth and go ahead with 1 system.
Completely wrong! Bluetooth is the better standard for this kind of connectivity! It starts from lower power consumption and ends with specific profiles like Voice and I'm not talking about VoIP!
It seems as the Americans don't trust Bluetooth at all, here in Europe it's making its way and will do it too any time in the US!

Thanx Arne (as usual)

"I wonder if it will work?" I wonder a lot of things these days 2.
"Good one!" You think so?
"Lets just drop Bluetooth and go ahead with 1 system" So you think 802.11 is handy and usefull for every device and/or application? What about size, consumption, costs?????

Chrysler ready to give Bluetooth a lift
By Junko Yoshida and David Benjamin
EE Times
June 13, 2002 (4:01 p.m. EST)

(excerpt)

"When it goes into production, UConnect will be available in Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles. Dealer-installed versions will start rolling out in the fourth quarter of this year, and factory-installed versions will be introduced in the first quarter of 2003. Chrysler has arranged for Peiker acustic GmbH to provide dealer-installed version of the hands-free system, and signed Johnson Controls Inc. as the lead provider of factory-installed versions of UConnect.

Both versions will include Bluetooth and voice-recognition capabilities in a control module to support passenger phone calls and access of information services. Controls and a microphone will be located in a vehicle's rearview mirror for factory-installed system.

Johnson Controls will use an Intel Corp. Xscale microprocessor, IBM Corp.'s voice-recognition system from IBM and Broadcom Corp.'s Bluetooth chip sets in its system. UConnect uses a real-time operation system from QNX Software Systems Ltd."

more
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20020613S0057

Few Bluetooth Handsfree Products:

-Visteon MACH Voice Link Bluetooth Subsystem Version 1.1a Visteon Corporation
-Blueconnect Hands-Free Module Johnson Controls, Inc.
-Wireless Car Kit CARK112 HFW-1 Nokia
-Motorola Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit BTHCK100 Motorola
-Vianect blue Handsfree 85435 ELSA AG
-Parrot CK3000 Bluetooth Handsfree Car Kit CK3000 PARROT S.A.

Check (662 qualified bluetooth products; around 200 are based on 1.0b i think)
http://qualweb.opengroup.org/Template2.cfm?MaxResults=all&LinkQualified=QualifiedProducts&SortCat
=QualifiedDate&SortOrder=DESC&search_category=&
search_option=&search_string=&search_SpecVersion=

Bluetooth and Telematics
http://www.google.nl/search?q=bluetooth+telematics&ie
=ISO-8859-1&hl=nl&lr=
http://www.google.nl/search?hl=nl&ie=ISO-8859-1&q
=bluetooth+car&lr=

Study: All Cars to Have Telematics
http://allnetdevices.com/wireless/news/2002/03/20/study_all.html

[Dave Conger]

.... is there any benefit to wireless?

Yes...no wires! Though you might not have to connect them up to your device, there aren't any with wireless hence no extra fuss.

[JonnoB]

.... is there any benefit to wireless?

Yes...no wires! Though you might not have to connect them up to your device, there aren't any with wireless hence no extra fuss.

The point is, if I am using my inverter to charge my device, or otherwise 'connect' my device somehow to something, I might as well tether it altogether. Wireless is great and I like others, want it to be pervasive in all the things we use - including the car. As battery life increases to allow a full day on full power, removing the requirement to tether our devices to power perodically, the rest of the wireless game will become even more useful (not that it isn't already).