Bluetooth keyboard and PDA

[BigCanoe]

Will the bluetooth keyboards you can get for a PC or Mac work with the iPAQ PDAs?

[Zack Mahdavi]

Will the bluetooth keyboards you can get for a PC or Mac work with the iPAQ PDAs?

No, since the Bluetooth Human Interface Driver has not been written for the Pocket PC yet by Microsoft. However, in about a month, Think Outside will be releasing a bluetooth version of their popular Stowaway keyboard. They are also writing the drivers for the device.. we'll have to wait and see how good the drivers are.

So if you want a bluetooth keyboard, wait about a month, and you should be able to get a really nice one at a good price. :)

[BigCanoe]

Excellent, thank you!

[Pony99CA]

Will the bluetooth keyboards you can get for a PC or Mac work with the iPAQ PDAs?
No, since the Bluetooth Human Interface Driver has not been written for the Pocket PC yet by Microsoft.
Why do you assume Microsoft has to do this? They don't make the only Bluetooth keyboard or stack out there. I'm no Bluetooth expert, but I'd think the Bluetooth stack on your Pocket PC would have to support the HID profile, which would put the responsiblity on whoever wrote the stack.

For example, WIDCOMM wrote the Bluetooth stack for iPAQs; HP did not use the Microsoft Bluetooth stack (which probably explains why one program I've tried says that my iPAQ 5550 doesn't have Bluetooth hardware :!:).

However, in about a month, Think Outside will be releasing a bluetooth version of their popular Stowaway keyboard. They are also writing the drivers for the device.. we'll have to wait and see how good the drivers are.

So if you want a bluetooth keyboard, wait about a month, and you should be able to get a really nice one at a good price. :)
A "really good price"? Knowing Think Outside, it won't be that good. I'm predicting it will be in the $70-$100 range, which is what they charge for the Stowaway Wireless (http://www.thinkoutside.com/products/stowaway-infrared-ppc.html) and the Stowaway XT (http://www.thinkoutside.com/products/stowawayxt-oview2.html), respectively. It may even be more because it will be a new product.

Steve

[Zack Mahdavi]

Will the bluetooth keyboards you can get for a PC or Mac work with the iPAQ PDAs?
No, since the Bluetooth Human Interface Driver has not been written for the Pocket PC yet by Microsoft.
Why do you assume Microsoft has to do this? They don't make the only Bluetooth keyboard or stack out there. I'm no Bluetooth expert, but I'd think the Bluetooth stack on your Pocket PC would have to support the HID profile, which would put the responsiblity on whoever wrote the stack.

For example, WIDCOMM wrote the Bluetooth stack for iPAQs; HP did not use the Microsoft Bluetooth stack (which probably explains why one program I've tried says that my iPAQ 5550 doesn't have Bluetooth hardware :!:).


You didn't understand me. I meant that the Pocket PC needs to have HID support, and it currently doesn't. Microsoft or the Pocket PC manufacturer must include support for this, and not the keyboard manufacturers.

In general, I strongly believe that the OS manufacturer should be responsible for writing the bluetooth drivers. Take a look at Windows XP, for example. Its bluetooth implementation is horrible, mainly because it has a bare skeleton. Other companies, like WIDCOMM, have to write everything else to allow for a bluetooth device to connect to the PC. That's why Bluetooth is so hard to set up on a Windows XP machine.

By comparison, take a look at bluetooth on Mac OS X. It's seamless and practically perfect. Setting up a bluetooth device to sync with a PIM literally takes about 30 seconds. The experience is very pleasant.

Hopefully, this issue will be fixed and Bluetooth will be pleasant as well on Windows XP SP2. I'm hoping Microsoft follows their own lead and develops the bluetooth drivers for their own Pocket PC OS as well one day.



However, in about a month, Think Outside will be releasing a bluetooth version of their popular Stowaway keyboard. They are also writing the drivers for the device.. we'll have to wait and see how good the drivers are.

So if you want a bluetooth keyboard, wait about a month, and you should be able to get a really nice one at a good price. :)
A "really good price"? Knowing Think Outside, it won't be that good. I'm predicting it will be in the $70-$100 range, which is what they charge for the Stowaway Wireless (http://www.thinkoutside.com/products/stowaway-infrared-ppc.html) and the Stowaway XT (http://www.thinkoutside.com/products/stowawayxt-oview2.html), respectively. It may even be more because it will be a new product.

Read what I wrote again... "a really nice one at a good price." I didn't say a "really good price." I also expect that the keyboard will sell for around $100, definitely not less. Considering that it will be a bluetooth Stowaway keyboard, that's not a bad price at all.

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[Pony99CA]

Will the bluetooth keyboards you can get for a PC or Mac work with the iPAQ PDAs?
No, since the Bluetooth Human Interface Driver has not been written for the Pocket PC yet by Microsoft.
Why do you assume Microsoft has to do this? They don't make the only Bluetooth keyboard or stack out there. I'm no Bluetooth expert, but I'd think the Bluetooth stack on your Pocket PC would have to support the HID profile, which would put the responsiblity on whoever wrote the stack.

For example, WIDCOMM wrote the Bluetooth stack for iPAQs; HP did not use the Microsoft Bluetooth stack (which probably explains why one program I've tried says that my iPAQ 5550 doesn't have Bluetooth hardware :!:).

You didn't understand me. I meant that the Pocket PC needs to have HID support, and it currently doesn't. Microsoft or the Pocket PC manufacturer must include support for this, and not the keyboard manufacturers.

No, I didn't misunderstand you at all. I said that the stack provider was responsible for this, then mentioned that HP (a Pocket PC manufacturer) supplied WIDCOMM drivers. So why blame Microsoft?

I suppose that you can blame Microsoft for not supplying a fully featured Bluetooth stack in the Windows Mobile OS, but that's your next point....

Anyway, on my iPAQ 5550, I can't tell if the HID profile is supported or not. It doesn't seem to be supported, but maybe the serial support could be used to interface to a keyboard.

It would be nice if the Bluetooth settings applet's About page included a list of profiles supported.

In general, I strongly believe that the OS manufacturer should be responsible for writing the bluetooth drivers.

I agree that would be the ideal situation, too, but Microsoft may not put every possible Bluetooth profile in. If they don't, I don't know what can be done.

Can the hardware manufacturer (in this case, Think Outside) provide their own profile to integrate into an existing Bluetooth stack? Can they provide a specialized Bluetooth stack that runs alongside an existing Bluetooth stack but only support their device? As I said, I'm no Bluetooth expert, so I have no idea.

However, in about a month, Think Outside will be releasing a bluetooth version of their popular Stowaway keyboard. They are also writing the drivers for the device.. we'll have to wait and see how good the drivers are.

So if you want a bluetooth keyboard, wait about a month, and you should be able to get a really nice one at a good price. :)
A "really good price"? Knowing Think Outside, it won't be that good. I'm predicting it will be in the $70-$100 range, which is what they charge for the Stowaway Wireless (http://www.thinkoutside.com/products/stowaway-infrared-ppc.html) and the Stowaway XT (http://www.thinkoutside.com/products/stowawayxt-oview2.html), respectively. It may even be more because it will be a new product.

Read what I wrote again... "a really nice one at a good price." I didn't say a "really good price." I also expect that the keyboard will sell for around $100, definitely not less. Considering that it will be a bluetooth Stowaway keyboard, that's not a bad price at all.

Eh, OK, I misplaced the "really". I still don't consider $70-$100 a "good price" for a keyboard, even with Bluetooth. Yes, I know that Bluetooth PC keyboards may cost that much or more, but many of them also come with the Bluetooth receiver for the PC and/or a Bluetooth mouse.

I'm not saying that the price isn't "reasonable" (one where the manufacturer makes enough to recoup their development costs and make a fair profit) -- it's just not what I, as a consumer, would call a "good price".

Steve

[Pony99CA]

OK, I was wrong about the price. I just read in the San Jose Mercury News (in the Tech Monday section) that the Bluetooth keyboard will be priced at $150. :?

Steve

[BigCanoe]

Ouch. Thats pricey. But it would be cool :)

[Zack Mahdavi]

OK, I was wrong about the price. I just read in the San Jose Mercury News (in the Tech Monday section) that the Bluetooth keyboard will be priced at $150. :?

Steve

Wow, Steve, you're right. That's not that good of a deal. Most Stowaways are released at a retail price of $100, which isn't all that bad.

This better be one good bluetooth keyboard, as I've been going around keyboard-less for a long time now! :) Seriously, though, I recently bought the Apple Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard for my Macs (it works on a PC as well.. :D), and I only paid $59. I might end up waiting a few months till I find a good deal for this bluetooth stowaway.