Just Curious - Why Bluetooth?


Off the top of my head, wireless mouse and keyboard (and other accessories) and tethering to a phone for mobile Internet.
 
While most scenarios are possible with cables, they're much easier without.
 
You can connect your Pandora to a Wiimote and then build yourslef a head tracking device like THIS.
Er, just a thought, probably not a very good one :unsure:
 
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Best answer - why not?

The addition of BT was pretty fortuitous and not planned. Serendipity I believe applies here.

But to answer your question (and not the Thread title):
  1. BT keyboard
  2. BT mouse
  3. BT headphones
  4. BT headsets
  5. Wii Remote
  6. Connect to your Cell phone's wireless
  7. easy transfer of files to a BT enabled computer/device
One thing I don't know if it possible or not - but it might be possible to use the Pandora as a wireless gamepad for your computer - but that's just a pointless harebrained idea I just had as typing this.
 
The pandora has bluetooth, because, and I am too lazy to go looking for a quote, they found a cheaper/better wifi chip, that also came with bluetooth. Therefore, it was added with no extra cost.
 
Maybe someone could hook a bluetooth-cell-phone-in-ear thing, have the arm version of skype installed on the Pandora, and have it be a mobile skype phone? Just an idea. I don't know if Skype would have to do the porting or if there are arm Linux versions of it already, haven't checked, just a thought.
 
unfortunately, i think the idea of skype got shot down a little bit ago. there's no arm version, I think, and the linux version is closed-source.
 
There are other VoIP providers compatible with open-source softphones. While Skype may be impossible, similar functionality should not be.
 
PoisonedV said:
The pandora has bluetooth, because, and I am too lazy to go looking for a quote, they found a cheaper/better wifi chip, that also came with bluetooth. Therefore, it was added with no extra cost.
Click to expand...
Actually according to the Blog post, Bluetooth did cost more.
However I do agree Bluetooth is a very valuable addition, PS3 Controllers use Bluetooth too if I am not mistaken.
 
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MWeston said:
BT was added for a few reasons

1. We got a good deal, but it did add a tiny bit of cost
2. OMAP host port only supports USB 2.0 HS mode (480Mb/s) which means all the bluetooth dongles I could find that had detailed specifications wouldn't work without going through a hub (which kinda kills that ultra portable stuff). It seems like most (all?) BT dongles are USB 2.0 FS mode (12Mb/s) because the more expensive electronics just aren't needed
3. See reason 2 for some unhappy customers forcing us to make a mk2 with BT internally and this would have cost more in the long run with a new PCB revision, changes to production line and changes to bill of materials.
4. Making competing devices look that much less interesting!
Click to expand...
 
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Fair enough. Reasons 1 and 4 above make sense. 2 and 3 are a little off; who are these "unhappy customers" that would "force" the dev team to add Bluetooth later? Regardless, it appears to have been a sound and thoughtful decision.
 
chad78 said:
One thing I don't know if it possible or not - but it might be possible to use the Pandora as a wireless gamepad for your computer - but that's just a pointless harebrained idea I just had as typing this.
I did that with the iLiad once and it was easy, but I don't know how it could be done for non-linux hosts.
Click to expand...
 
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vaustein said:
Fair enough. Reasons 1 and 4 above make sense. 2 and 3 are a little off; who are these "unhappy customers" that would "force" the dev team to add Bluetooth later? Regardless, it appears to have been a sound and thoughtful decision.
Click to expand...
One of the ideas behind the original decision not to include Bluetooth was that if users wanted to use Bluetooth, they would be able to use a USB Bluetooth adapter such as this. However, MWeston discovered that the Pandora's USB host would not be compatible with most Bluetooth adapters, so the dev team made the decision to pay the cost for the Bluetooth (which they probably want to use as well) now rather than later.

Also note that when people are looking forward to future hardware revisions, they are less likely to buy the current hardware-- a situation which the dev team can't really risk with a niche product like the Pandora.
 
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I never got the point anyway. I mean the omap will be fixed before the release, and thus support lowspeed usb anyway, so why take that as a reason? (not that I don't want bluetooth)
 
Yeah, a quick Google search turned up no Linux version working on arm chips. Well, at least pidgin will work on it. Usually the Linux people in companies are a little more likely to listen to the public, maybe if it was possible to directly e-mail the Linux people at Skype maybe we could ask them to port it? I know that sometimes the people at the top think it's not worth it, this device isn't that used, but the small Linux hackers in the company might listen.
 
Well you gotta see the big picture, they'll be making an ARM port, not a pandora port, which means that they'll also make it available for all kinds of cellphones and stuff
 
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