Writing in the International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications, Helen Zhou and Tim Roberts of the School of Electrical Engineering at Manukau Institute of Technology explain how they have developed a microcontroller-based personal health monitoring unit that can carry medical sensors and a positioning device. The unit can connect to other devices via the short-range wireless networking system known as Bluetooth and so could be readily connected to software on a smart mobile phone for health monitoring.

The team adds that the mobile phone can be used as a gateway to further relay patient health data to a remote database via the mobile network for remote diagnoses. “Any medical instructions can be sent back instantly to the mobile users,” the team says. “The use of standard development tools makes it possible for patients to easily use everyday mobile devices for their personal health monitoring and assessment anytime anywhere.” They add that, “Bluetooth and mobile networks enable wireless communications among mobile users, medical professionals and other healthcare givers in an easy, secure and efficient manner.”

The device software is based on the familiar cross-platform Java system and provides user with an easy to use graphical user interface (GUI) on their smart phone that uses the standard navigation buttons on mobile devices.

Last month, the NTSB came out with sweeping recommendations to cure the problem of distracted driving, which they called “an epidemic.”

Those recommendations included a nationwide ban on cellphone use while driving. This means both texting (which is already banned in some states) and talking. Basic phone calls as well as “non required” activity like checking Facebook and Twitter would also fall under the ban. The kicker was that the NTSB didn’t limit their ban to handsets, but also included hand-free devices. The only exception that would allow a driver to talk on these devices is if they are part of a factory-installed system.

That last part is the focus of a study by market research firm Morpace, and it looks like its not going to sit too well with American drivers.

According to their research, 57% of consumers think that all hands-free devices should be legal.

This figure comes despite the fact that 64% of those surveyed said they are “extremely concerned” about distracted drivers and 30% said they are “somewhat concerned.” So more than 9 out of 10 people say that are concerned about dangerous road distractions, but over half fail to put hands-free units in that category.

But the same people aren’t really huge fans of the hands-free devices. Only 11% said they use them “very often” while 68% said they don’t use them often.

If such a law were to be put into place, 40% of those surveyed said they would be likely to buy a car with one to approved factory-installed hands-free devices. A mild conspiracy theorist can take that wherever they want.

I’m confident that if you asked Americans if they want their kid on the road with a drunk driver, a majority would say no. I’m also pretty confident that if you asked the same question, but this time changed it to a texting driver, the answer would remain no. But according to this study, Americans don’t mind sharing the road with a guy chatting with his mom on a Bluetooth device.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

What makes the R1-W so unique is that it appeals to the image-conscious consumer, the consumer who favors practicality, and even the consumer who wants something extra. For the image- conscious, the design is much more sophisticated than other hearing aids and is available in over eight different colors. For the practical consumer, the batteries last over 300 hours and are easily changed. For the gadget fans, the Bluetooth feature can automatically connect the wearer to their phones and can store up to 2 hours and 40 minutes of voice memos. Sounds great for both grandma and grandpa!

Panasonic, a brand familiar to most for its TVs and keyboards, is demonstrating their interest in servicing a different kind of consumer- the consumer with special needs. This makes sense. If you are required to have a gadget on you at all times, why not get the most out of it? Yoshi Yuasa, Senior Vice President of Panasonic Corporation of North America states, “With the new R1-W series, Panasonic has introduced a line of hearing instruments with sound quality design that equals or exceeds anything we have seen in the industry. With Panasonic’s depth of research and design prowess in the audio field, our sights are set on new innovative solutions that are game changers for the end user and the Hearing Care Professional alike.”.

This allows a wide range of devices to communicate with one another without actually being physically connected to one another.

Some of the most notable features of Bluetooth technology are the facts that it is relatively inexpensive (this is first and foremost for many potential consumers); it is not extremely fragile, it is very user friendly, and has low power consumption. Bluetooth can be used to create wireless Personal Access Networks (PANs) while offering fast and reliable transmission of both voice and data. Bluetooth offers wireless access to the Internet (for home access as well as laptops, PDAs, and other hand held devices), cell phone services, and local access networks.

A complete Bluetooth system requires an RF portion in order to send or receive data; a module for processing, a memory module, and an interface to the electronic device it is to communicate with (such as a phone, Palm, or camera).

The lower-layer protocols can typically be found within the baseband module and the host processor must support the protocols of the upper-layer. Simply put, the RF-baseband solution supplies the means necessary in order to communicate with the host. This additionally requires an interface by which they can connect as well as the ‘upper-layer’ protocols in order to actually apply the applications the product is designed to support.

The higher upper layers of Bluetooth technology are referred to as Bluetooth Profiles. These profiles are literally a set of protocols that are optimized in order to complete specific tasks or applications. If you wish to share files between two linked devices they must be compatible devices that have similar applications across the spectrum of devices.

The Bluetooth stack has the following components:

1) RF portion. This is necessary for reception and transmission.

2) Baseband portion.

3) Link Control Unit

4) Link Manager. This supports lower layer protocols.

5) Interface. This allows a connection to the host device.

6) Host processor. This will support upper layer protocols.

7) L2Cap. This also supports upper layer protocols.

The Radio Frequency (RF) supplies the Digital Signal Processing (DSP) element to the system while the baseband microcontroller processes the signals. The link controller supports the link manager and controls the baseboard functions by sending and receiving data, identifying the device sending data, performing authentication, and determining the frame to which the transmission should be sent. The link controller also directs the way devices communicate with each other as well as enabling the power saving sleep mode when not being directly used.

The link manager is responsible for setup, authentication, the configuration of links, and other lower layer protocols. The baseband and link manager work together in order to establish connections for the network.

The Host Controller Interface (HCI) allows the communication of lower layer protocols to the host (which contains a processor) device. The L2Cap supports upper layer protocols and enables communication with the lower layers. The higher-upper layer protocols are often very specific tasks and applications that require integration with the lower layer applications. The ability of all these components to work together and communicate adequately is very important to Bluetooth technology.

Core Protocols in Bluetooth technology:

1) Baseband. This layer combined with the link control layer enables an RF link to form while offering two distinct physical links with corresponding baseband packets. These links are Synchronous Connection-Oriented and Asynchronous Connectionless. Synchronous Connection-Oriented connections can contain either audio or a combination of data and audio while Asynchronous Connectionless packets can only be used for the purpose of transmitting data.

2) Link Manager Protocol. This is responsible for establishing links between Bluetooth devices including but not limited to security functions such as authentication and encryption keys as well as the negotiation duty cycles for the Bluetooth device and the device on the receiving end.

3) Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol. This adapts the upper layer protocols over the baseband.

4) Service Discovery Protocol. This allows device information, services and characteristics of services to be queried. Once queried, a connection can be made between two or more Bluetooth devices.

Telephony and Cable Replacement Protocols:

1) Telephony Control Protocol. This is a bit oriented protocol that defines the control signal for the call and establishes speech and data cells between the devices.

2) RFCOMM. This is a serial line emulation protocol. It is based on European Telecommunications Standardization Institute’s specifications and emulates control over Bluetooth baseband. This provides not only transport capabilities but also allows for upper level services that use serial lines as transport mechanisms.

Adopted Protocols:

1) PPP: PPP is the point-to-point protocol. PPP Networking is the act of taking IP packets from the PPP layer and putting them on the Local Access Network.

2) TCP/UDP/IP: TCP/IP/PPP this is used for all Internet bridge purposes. It is also available as transport for the WAP.

3) OBEX Protocol. This is a session protocol that is designed to exchange data simply and automatically.

Advantages: Bluetooth technology makes the use of peer-to-peer connectivity simpler by enabling all manner of devices to communicate freely and automatically. Bluetooth also allows for fast, secure voice and data transmissions. While the range for connectivity is only about 30 feet, line of sight is not necessary for the signals to be received and transmitted.

Bluetooth is also capable of functioning in noisy radio environments while ensuring audible voice transmissions even in less than ideal situations. It can correct data through use of error correction methods while providing a high transmission rate. You also have the ability to use encryption in order to provide added layers of security.

Bluetooth may also be used to create ad hoc networking among personal devices in order to quickly exchange information.

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Theres many exciting things to learn about bluetooth earpieces and bluetooth earphones. Find out more at http://www.discoverbluetooth.com

Unlike Wi Fi, Blue Tooth uses radio waves to wirelessly connect devices within short range of each other.

The devices may either be within 10 meters or up to 100 meters of each other to remain networked. One of the benefits of Blue Tooth is that it is a low powered source as well as inexpensive.

Blue Tooth is already pre installed in many devices as some of its proponents include Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Intel, and Nokia. By using a Blue Tooth adapter in your computer (ranging in cost from $20.00-$100.00 U.S.) you can easily start your own network using devices never before dreamed compatible.

Once your software has been installed, you will be able to locate equipment that is Blue Tooth compatible and begin your own network. Devices such as mobile phones, computers, desktops and notebooks, printers, digital cameras, PDAs, and MP3 players can all be networked, and this doesn’t just include your items. You can network with friends or coworkers and share files, print pictures and documents easily and efficiently.

The story behind the name Blue Tooth is just as intriguing as the nature of the technology. The story tells of a tenth century King of Denmark, King Harold Bluetooth, who practiced a reign of peaceful negotiations and treaties. He was a master of bringing opposing parties together to have them “talk” to each other. Thus the meaning of Blue Tooth technology that brings devices from different companies (many with opposing pasts) to “talk” to each other.

It appears that Blue Tooth will be one of the prominent features in future products. As the world needs to pull the plug for greater corporate production and efficiency, wireless capabilities are essential. Blue Tooth offers tremendous benefits to those in the work place, home office, and for those who are looking for greater convenience and flexibility in their daily lives.

Modern marvels abound as you see Blue Tooth appearing in all sorts of products. From cars that are preinstalled with wireless phone capabilities, and sunglasses that play your favorite Itunes, Blue Tooth is already shaping the way we communicate and find our entertainment.

Medical technology has been using Blue Tooth and once you are Blue Tooth enabled, you can use your computer in an airport without needing to plug in.

Blue Tooth is the technology that is steering the course to the future of our wireless world.

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Bluetooth Technology – find out all the information you need to keep up with this exciting technology

1) Almost all of the ten biggest US markets for MySpace are on the West Coast

2) There’s more interest in Bluetooth than in Wifi

3) PR is starting to come close to catching advertising. AdAge still bests PR Week

4) David Hasselhoff’s popularity in Germany is declining

5) Jerry Lewis’s popularity in France is rising

6) Blackberry is widening its lead over the Treo

7) Zacharias Moussaoui finally beat OJ Simpson in searches

Hockey is starting to surpass baseball in popularity, but they fall way behind football (no matter which way it is defined)

9) New York still tops LA!

10) The Kryptonite Lock got more PR from the blog blow-up than any other event during the past two years

11) TV is kicking the movies butt

12) Dogs are by far killing all other pets while cats and fish battle for second place

13) Democrats vs. Republicans? Yup, they’re neck and neck and on my screen red and blue!

14) YouTube is huge in the Philippines. Call it the Mike Abundo effect.

15) Blogs have caught up to newspapers. Boing Boing and Gizmodo are close to catching the WSJ

16) The beach is more popular than the mountains

17) Wikipedia is huge in Eastern Europe and it started to lead Britannica, Encarta and Webster’s in 2004

18) Digg is still way behind CNET but it caught up to Slashdot. MySpace speed ahead of AOL last year

19) Interest in blogs and RSS is much higher than in podcasting and wikis

20) Flickr is the king of tagging, followed by del.icio.us and furl

21) Web 2.0 is huge in Korea – even bigger than in San Francisco

22) Elvis and The Beatles are in a dead heat

23) Word is more popular than any other Office app. Outlook and Excel are in a tie, followed by Powerpoint.

24) Bill Gates is slaughtering Steve Jobs in searches

25) Google is bigger than God?

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Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.

He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.

High-end mobile phone owners, meet high-tech advertisers. That’s the focus of a Wall Street Journal story on a British advertising effort. One company, Filter UK, have been responsible for disturbing people who would otherwise be enjoying a few quiet moments in the first class lounge for Virgin Atlantic.

Another company called Maiden Group has been working on a similar initiative, but at English train stations now, with shopping malls to be covered at a later date. Their ads have featured red-hot rock act Coldplay, while Filter UK’s airport ads feature the new Range Rover Sport SUV.

A notification sent over Bluetooth asks users if they would like to view an advertisement. Accept, and a 30-second ad will play on the small screen. Refuse, and they won’t be bothered by other ads in the same series. There is no opt-out provision, as the concept of such ad delivery hasn’t yet been considered legally.

These ads won’t be going away anytime soon. The article cites a two-week test, where messages sent to 87,000 phones returned 13,000 acceptances. That’s around a 15 percent response rate. In the ad industry, where high single-digit responses set hearts aflutter, 15 percent may have people speed-dialing their cardiologists.

With people, especially the slavishly coveted 18-24 demographic, tuning out traditional advertising mediums like TV and newspapers, expect these efforts to grow in number and presence. Who knows just how widely and interactive future advertising efforts could reach?

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

The short-range wireless technology called Bluetooth, commonly used to connect wireless headets to cellular phones, has had an image of being a solution in need of a problem.

But a new initiative to integrate Bluetooth with Ultra-Wideband technology may revive Bluetooth’s potential and finally fulfill years of hype.

Bluetooth transmits at about 1 megabit per second, with a planned upgrade to 3mbps. UWB blasts past that with speeds of 100mbps and up.

A successful implementation of the two technologies could mean an end to the countless wires users need to connect computers, peripherals, and media devices like personal video recorders.

Discussions between Bluetooth’s managing interest, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group backed by Nokia, Motorola, and Intel, and the WiMedia Alliance and UWB Forum, have just started.

Recently, Microsoft joined the WiMedia Alliance, a big boost to its efforts at developing a version of UWB.

One major concern to be addressed by an integration of the two technologies will be to ensure buyers of Bluetooth-enabled items today would be able to work with whatever UWB products come to market in the future.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

Mike Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, seems to think that combining the two local area radio systems is a good idea, producing new high-speed applications and reducing fragmentation.

Creating a structure of combined attributes of UWB’s high-speeds and Bluetooth’s low costs and low energy usage is Bluetooth’s main goal.

According to Foley, UWB would benefit from a stronger market position and Bluetooth’s infrastructure, allowing UWB to reach market maturity at a faster pace.

The merger does come with certain challenges. Compatibility issues with as well as global regulation of UWB are at the forefront of the challenges.

When Bluetooth first appeared about five years ago, the hype far outstripped its usefulness. The ability to eliminate the tangles of cords and cables was very alluring. Unfortunately, cost and complexity almost brought the technology to its knees.

Now its back, alive and well, fulfilling its promise as a useful tool in a variety of settings.

Europe was its early adopter and it is standard on nearly all European cell phones. They have adopted Bluetooth enabled phones, laptops, wireless keyboards, mice and more.

Sexy Headsets:

Cingular and T-Mobile wireless carriers use the same technology as their European counterparts and thus offer Bluetooth enabled devices for their customers. Bluetooth is rarer from Sprint and Verizon Communications which are based on North American technologies.

One major boost for adoption of Bluetooth enabled mobile phones will come from State and local governments. Many new laws and ordinances have been adopted or are in various stages of implementation that will levy fines for driving and using a hand held cell phone. The push for hands-free calling will move Bluetooth forward in the marketplace.

Acura TL now offers Bluetooth integrated into the automobile allowing the driver to use the cars stereo system as a speakerphone and displays information on the dashboard. Bluetooth car kits are now available from Motorola, Nokia, Parrot and others for about $100.

Early teething problems included high cost and poor battery life and made it unattractive for handsets. But now Logitech’s Mobile Bluetooth handset can be had for about $50. The $140 Jabra BT800, which lets you control many cell-phone functions on the headset, offers six hours of talk time and five days of standby. After that, you can recharge by running a USB cable from the headset into a laptop so you don’t need to take a charger with you. A headset on the way from Plantronics will come with adapters that allow charging from most phone adapters or from an AA battery.

Bluetooth Linking:

Beyond mobile phones, Bluetooth is beginning to make inroads into other aspects of wireless communication. Although Windows support is somewhat primitive by current standards, the technology is standard on Apple Macintoshes and optional on other products. Apple uses the latest, faster version of Bluetooth. If Mac detects a Bluetooth enabled keyboard and mouse during startup, it will link to them automatically.

PalmOne is also a big supporter of Bluetooth. PalmOne’s software overcomes most of the Windows difficulties and allows their handheld devices to sync and swap files with a Windows laptop over Bluetooth. Making sync work with a new Mac PowerBook is even easier. As for Microsoft’s primitive Bluetooth world, it is possible to get a Pocket PC to sync with Windows over Bluetooth, but is only for the technically savvy.

Bluetooth Worth Waiting For:

Bluetooth still falls short. Early promoters envisioned that you would be able to walk up to a printer with your laptop of PDA, click a button, and print. We’re still waiting for that one. Bluetooth printers are rare but we can assume that the advent of Bluetooth enabled digital camera phones will spur this technology further and make for easy printing of those treasured moments.

The technology savvy users are an impatient lot. If it doesn’t catch on right away they move on to something newer and different. If anything, Bluetooth has proven that acceptance can take a while. But isn’t it worth the wait?

We technology watchers are an impatient lot who tend to give up on anything that doesn’t catch on right away. Bluetooth has proved once again that acceptance can take a long time — and that sometimes it’s worth the wait.

Raymond Klesc – Global Value Connect ( http://www.globalvalueconnect.com ) has been providing the best value in telecommunication products and services for the home or office since 1995. If you want to cut your telephone bill in half register today for our free eBook entitled “Telephone Bill Saving Tips for Home and Office” and is available at: http://www.globalvalueconnect.com/Saving_Tips.htm.

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