Windows Mobile 5.0 to Support HID Keyboard Bluetooth Profile Natively

[Jerry Raia]

http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=2499

"As we've heard this week on Microsoft's Tech Ed Europe 2005 conference, Windows Mobile 5.0 will natively support the Bluetooth HID profiles with support of Bluetooth keyboards and I can prove it does! :-) I've tested the HTC Universal with my Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard and both pairs easily through Microsoft's native Bluetooth stack."

All of you Bluetooth keyboard enthusiasts should be happy about this. However like all Microsoft features it seems this one also leaves out something. If you use multiple language Keyboards (as I do) you will see it doesn't quite support them. This short article does not mention Smartphones specifically either. I would assume it would work for them as well though.

[Jerry Raia]

http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=2499

"As we've heard this week on Microsoft's Tech Ed Europe 2005 conference, Windows Mobile 5.0 will natively support the Bluetooth HID profiles with support of Bluetooth keyboards and I can prove it does! :-) I've tested the HTC Universal with my Think Outside Bluetooth keyboard and both pairs easily through Microsoft's native Bluetooth stack."

All of you Bluetooth keyboard enthusiasts should be happy about this. However like all Microsoft features it seems this one also leaves out something. If you use multiple language Keyboards (as I do) you will see it doesn't quite support them. This short article does not mention Smartphones specifically either. I would assume it would work for them as well though.

[Arne Hess]

Originally Posted by Jerry Raia

This short article does not mention Smartphones specifically either. I would assume it would work for them as well though.

The deicated Smartphone preview is here: http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=2501



And I have to admit it works way better with the Pocket PC... :-(

[Jerry Raia]

Thank you for the update!

[Sven]

Does 'natively supported' neccesarily mean the profile will be there though? Isn't it still up to the OEM to pick what is or isn't included. Or are we now talking about a situation like SP2 on the desktop, where BT is natively supported, and the number of profiles provided is a fraction of what was provided by third party installations.

P.S. Arne, I'm jealous of your Parrot. :mrgreen:

[Mike Temporale]

Originally Posted by Arne Hess

And I have to admit it works way better with the Pocket PC... :-(

Nice. Shouldn't the expereince be the same regardless of the platform?! :evil:

[Arne Hess]

Originally Posted by sven

Does 'natively supported' neccesarily mean the profile will be there though? Isn't it still up to the OEM to pick what is or isn't included. Or are we now talking about a situation like SP2 on the desktop, where BT is natively supported, and the number of profiles provided is a fraction of what was provided by third party installations.

P.S. Arne, I'm jealous of your Parrot. :mrgreen:

Exactly! Microsoft found out that the ODMs haven't included as much BT profiles as possible and therefore Microsoft decided to add more BT profiles by default! So yes, like with the XP SP2.

Regarding the Parrot: I love it - it saves a lot of work since I change the devices pretty often and I love the Bluetooth car kit! :-)

Originally Posted by Mike Temporale

Nice. Shouldn't the expereince be the same regardless of the platform?! :evil:

Should... :-(

[Sven]

Originally Posted by Arne Hess

Exactly! Microsoft found out that the ODMs haven't included as much BT profiles as possible and therefore Microsoft decided to add more BT profiles by default! So yes, like with the XP SP2.

Seems to me I got fewer profiles with my Linksys and Belkin BT Dongles and the native XP drivers than I got with the OEM installation on the desktop.

Now if MS is going to provide native support for all the usual stuff, AS, dialup modem, serial, etc. and include things like HID, AD2P, Handsfree, I'm all for it.

Regarding the Parrot: I love it - it saves a lot of work since I change the devices pretty often and I love the Bluetooth car kit! :-)

Using that with an SMT5600 or MPX220?

[Arne Hess]

Originally Posted by sven

Using that with an SMT5600 or MPX220?

It supports up to 4 profiles which are MPx220, SP3i, Xda mini and a UMTS phone at the moment. The only problem is if you jump into your car and you have all 4 devices turned on. ;-)