FCC Approves Smaller Bluetooth SDIO Card

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.brighthand.com/article/FCC_Approves_Smaller_Bluetooth_SDIO_Card' target='_blank'>http://www.brighthand.com/article/F...tooth_SDIO_Card</a><br /><br /></div>"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has given Toshiba approval to release a new Bluetooth SDIO card that is significantly smaller than the company's current one.<!> The company's current SD Bluetooth card is 1.95 by .94 by .08 inches, which is almost three quarter of an inch longer than a standard SD memory card. This makes it inconvenient to use with most handhelds, as it sticks out quite a bit. Generally, most people only insert the card when they plan to use it, rather than usually keeping it in the slot, because of the risk of accidentally breaking the card. <br /><br />The new version is 1.6 inches long and lacks the bulge that is on the end of the current one. This is still longer than will fit inside of SD slots but is a marked improvement. Developers of wireless cards like these have reported that ones that fit entirely inside the slot, without an external antenna, have a very short range."

[ctmagnus]

An increasing number of Bluetooth-enabled devices are coming on the market, such as GPS receivers, hard drives, and keyboards

Bluetooth hard drives? That would hurt!

[thadrool]

An increasing number of Bluetooth-enabled devices are coming on the market, such as GPS receivers, hard drives, and keyboards

Bluetooth hard drives? That would hurt!

Why would it hurt?

[ctmagnus]

Why would it hurt?

BT's transfer speed compared to that of traditional hard drives.

[R K]

BT's transfer speed compared to that of traditional hard drives.

I think Toshiba already has a BT hard drive out in Japan.
Transfer speeds aside, Bluetooth hard drives make great media storage devices. Think of how much music and video you can store on a 5GB hard drive. Battery life is also saved since Bluetooth takes up only a little bit more power than a CF memory card and Toshiba's seperate HD comes with its own battery.

[Crones]

Is the new card the one on Toshiba's website:
Toshiba Part #: PA3172U-1BTM or is it a newer model of this card. The one in the article seems to be the one sold on their website for weeks already. The newer smaller bluetooth card has the PA3172U-1BTM Part # introduced sometime in September 2002 while the older bigger card has the Part # PA3172U-BTM without the 1.

Please correct me if I'm wrong about this but isn't this story a couple of weeks old already. I remember reading this article a while back and the wording and size specs of this allegedly new card is exactly like the one sold on Toshiba's website at http://pda.toshiba.com under accesories.

Any Feedback on this would be great. :?