BluOnyx Bluetooth Media Streamer for Mobile Devices

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/18/ageres-bluonyx-portable-bluetooth-media-streamer-for-your-phone/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/18/...for-your-phone/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"So the portable media usage scenario we hear most about around these parts looks a little something like this: user has cellphone, user has portable media device, user wishes portable media device could be integrated into cellphone so user only needs to take with them one device. Enter, oddly, Agere's new oxymoronically named BluOnyx device. By way of Bluetooth, SD card, or USB, users load up their BluOnyx -- which, conceptually, could come with between 1 and 40GB of space, would be roughly 85 x 54 x 6 or 15mm, and cost between $100 and $250 -- with content, which is in turn wirelessly transferred via Bluetooth to the user's cellphone for playback, effectively reducing the devices carried from two to, um, two."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20061218-bluonyx.jpg" /><br /><br />Well, truth be told, this does have value for all our Bluetooth-touting Pocket PCs and Smartphones; on the other hand, we can think of plenty of alternatives (namely, a dedicated media player such as the iPod or Zune). Depending on what the media junkie in you demands, this is either a valuable accessory or just another "Why? Because I Can!" contraption? You decide.

[Menneisyys]

Well, taking into account that, to my knowledge, there is only one Wi-Fi enabled HDD enclosure (I'm not counting here Wi-Fi access pointes with either USB host or the capability to contain a built-in HDD to function as a file server; see for example the links here (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&amp;title=pda_s_without_a_cf_card_slot_and_usb_hos&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1) on more info on the alternates) , gadgets like this are VERY useful, particularly if you would also like to use them as, say, photo banks and woulnd't like to spend excess $$$ on the multimedia playback capabilities of a Zune / iPod.

I only wish they also had Wi-Fi for even faster in-practice file transfer (say, 300-400 kbyte/s as opposed to the 300-400 kbps of BT) and to be compatible with today's Wi-Fi-enabled digitcal cameras.

[JesterMania]

Hmm...if this is capable of Bluetooth transfer, is it possible for multiple users to connect to this device and stream data from it simultaneously? If that's the case, it could potentially be useful for say...long car trips where everybody can stream data from it to their own devices.

[Mexico]

That lens flare on the pic looks oh sooo real! :lol:

[ctmagnus]

A BT-enabled portable harddrive would be interesting. Not just for media, but for all data.

[Cybrid]

The trouble with Bluetooth is poorly implemented stacks.I have a Toshiba Hopbit. A similar device. The Hopbit supports OBEX and PAN/FTP (not a standard implementation btw)...and unless you have a AKU 3.x or Widcomm device...The lack of PAN profiles makes it useless.
As far as I can tell it is only compatible with Toshiba PDA's.
I'd be more willing to risk dollars on the Wi-Drive (hopefully not vaporware :D)

As to the articles author, I'd be interested in knowing if his media player has photo editing, many other file handling capabilities.
If not then Pocket PC (host capable), Media Player, USB cable makes 3.

[inteller]

A BT-enabled portable harddrive would be interesting. Not just for media, but for all data.

yes, that's all us WM devices uers need really. We have WMP, we just need something better than 2-4Gb max storage on cards.