Exploring the new frontiers of Bluetooth

I recently bought a new cell phone (an LG VX8600) which supports Bluetooth. As you may know, I’m a big fan of Bluetooth technology, so I took this as an opportunity to add Bluetooth connectivity to my desktop, Fozzie.

After reading lots of reviews on Bluetooth adapters, I found that they range in price from $7 all the way up to $60 or more. But, they had almost universally bad reviews, except one — the Anycom USB-250. It seemed that for most adapters, no matter the price, some people could get it to work, while lots of people could not. To be fair, Bluetooth can be complex because compatibility depends on both the adapter as well as the device you’re connecting to (in my case, my cell phone). There are so many possible combinations that it’s not surprising that there are compatibility problems. But, it seemed that more people had success with the Anycom adapter than with others.

Since I got it, I have found that it works perfectly with my phone. I am able to transfer files, use my phone as a modem, and use my computer as a speaker phone. Some of it was non-obvious (step #1: Get rid of the CD that comes with the adapter and download the latest software from Anycom’s web site), so I may end up writing a how-to for my blog.

Now that I have Bluetooth connectivity on my computer, I am excited to start getting more Bluetooth-compatible devices. Printers, mice, keyboards, media players… lots of things are supporting Bluetooth nowadays. And now I can take part in the wireless fun!

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