[Jason Dunn]

Our ninth giveaway is again from Socket Communications. They gave me one of their Class 1 Bluetooth USB Adapters (valued at $59 USD) earlier this year, and I never got around to using it - probably because every time I use Bluetooth I curse. :lol: Hopefully the winner of this will get more use out of it than I did!



The winner, through a random drawing of all subscribers and the postcards that were sent in, is mark2k. If you're the winner, you'll receive an email in the next 72 hours with details on how to claim your prize. Congratulations!

If you want to be in the running for the next contest in this series, you can either become a subscriber or follow the instructions in this post and send me a postcard. Stay tuned for the next contest!

[Jason Dunn]

Our ninth giveaway is again from Socket Communications. They gave me one of their Class 1 Bluetooth USB Adapters (valued at $59 USD) earlier this year, and I never got around to using it - probably because every time I use Bluetooth I curse. :lol: Hopefully the winner of this will get more use out of it than I did!



The winner, through a random drawing of all subscribers and the postcards that were sent in, is mark2k. If you're the winner, you'll receive an email in the next 72 hours with details on how to claim your prize. Congratulations!

If you want to be in the running for the next contest in this series, you can either become a subscriber or follow the instructions in this post and send me a postcard. Stay tuned for the next contest!

[Stik]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

They gave me one of their Class 1 Bluetooth USB Adapters (valued at $59 USD) earlier this year, and I never got around to using it - probably because every time I use Bluetooth I curse. :lol: Hopefully the winner of this will get more use out of it than I did!

Hopefully 'soon' you'll not need to curse B^ no more!

Rumor :devilboy: has it that in the next few weeks Socket will be releasing a B^ software package ( think WiFi Companion ) that will give users a much better experience w/ B^ device connectivity.

No intricate details, but somethings brewing in Newark. :mrgreen:

[ctmagnus]

Ugh. Bluetooth with the Widcomm stack is a piece of cake. Even with the Microsoft stack, it is. But once you have to deal with 3rd-party stacks, it is an absolute nightmare! (As I recently found out.) wtf happened to standards?

[Stik]

Originally Posted by ctmagnus

wtf happened to standards?

Thats a loaded question ctmagnus.

All stacks certified by the B^ SIG must qualify by using their ( SIG ) standards, whether it be Widcomm, Microsoft or other ' 3rd party vendors.'

When does a standard not become so standard?

( and I'm not pointing any fingers )

Just for the sake of discussion, its when ' a predominant vendor creates an implementation of a standard with extensions that are incompatible with other systems practicing the standard. The other systems then are incompatible with the majority of systems, which are provided by the predominant vendor. The predominant vendor uses patents or copyright to restrain others from implementing systems that are compatible with the new extensions. This creates a monopoly lock on the standard. The user is forced to switch to the dominant vendor's implementation in order to be compatible with the majority of users. '

This practice has the cute name of ' Embrace and Enhance '

http://perens.com/OpenStandards/Definition.html

The short version? Its all about...

http://www.telecom-experts.com/profits-rising.gif

[Stik]

Originally Posted by Stik

Hopefully 'soon' you'll not need to curse B^ no more!

Rumor :devilboy: has it that in the next few weeks Socket will be releasing a B^ software package ( think WiFi Companion ) that will give users a much better experience w/ B^ device connectivity.

Talking to myself again? Whoops! :mrgreen:

Just to bring my ' rumormongering ' up to speed, Socket made an announcement this morning concerning new B^ software for their GPS unit called ' Connect! Agent. '

" Connect!Agent is patent pending, and its integration with Socket's GPS Nav Kit is the initial implementation. "

Hopefully ctmagnus, it will work as advertised...

" Connect!Agent is capable of being implemented across multiple technologies, devices and protocol stacks. " and " Connect!Agent supports Windows Mobile devices with Broadcom, Microsoft and Socket Drakar Bluetooth software for 2003/SE and Microsoft Bluetooth software for Windows Mobile 5.0 devices.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051101/15468.html?.v=1

[ctmagnus]

fwiw, I managed to correct my own BT issue. I simply installed the v4 European version of the software, rather than the v3.2 North American version. This version is still rather unintuitive (eg, my Pocket PC and Smartphone both connect flawlessly with the Tablet, but neither are indicated in the first few dialogs of the software) but imo it just shows that where there is better adoption of a technology, there will be better support for that technology.