Hacks 122: Introduction

Hacks 122 Introduction

There is much talk in the communications industry of providing last-mile connectivity. Think of Bluetooth as providing connectivity for the last 10 feet. Bluetooth excels as a handy cable-replacement technology, helping to eliminate the need for cumbersome wires that you might find on headsets, remote controls, PDAs, and other small devices. Bluetooth aims to end the days of needing to carry a three-foot piece of cable with obscure connectors on either end everywhere you go, just to interface to your laptop. You can use Bluetooth-enabled devices to talk to a laptop or a desktop, or even have them talk to each other to exchange data almost effortlessly. This chapter presents hacks on getting Bluetooth working with a wide range of devices and then doing some very interesting tricks.

If you can provide connectivity for the last 10 feet, how do you find yourself on this blue-green sphere we call Earth? The global positioning system (GPS) has migrated from being a military-only technology to something that is built into cars, phones, and a number of other devices. In this chapter, you can learn how to do some very unusual things with GPS that the designers probably never intended.

Mobile phones are everywhere. For many people, they have become the sole telephone of choice, enabling them to abandon land lines altogether. When you combine a mobile phone and Bluetooth, even more hacks become possible.