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jorgem4 · Aug 4, 2004, 01:24 PM

I just got a 12" PB it is a sweet machine...best ever for me.

It came with bluetooth...but I am not quite up to speed with this technology and I would like to exploid it as much as possible.

So tell me what do you use bluetooth for? Any cool tricks?

Thanks.

Grrr · Aug 4, 2004, 01:45 PM

Probably most useful with a suitable mobile phone. Thats how I use it (Nokia 6600). Many PDA's too. Plus you could add an Apple bluetooth wireless mouse & keyboard if you wanted.
Good for sending small files from one device to the other, and also for syncing contact details, iCal stuff and notes etc etc..

siMac · Aug 4, 2004, 02:29 PM

With a compatible phone, Salling Clicker is the coolest Bluetooth app out there IMO.

It'll let you use your phone to control iTunes, DVD Player, Keynote and even the mouse Out Of The Box, or write your own AppleScripts to control just about anything.

It's pretty trick.

sworthy · Aug 4, 2004, 02:57 PM

Does OS X support bluetooth headsets (for use either with iChat AV or with a speaking program such as iListen)?

Rickster · Aug 4, 2004, 04:46 PM

For iChat AV and audio recording, yes. For speech recognition, no.

fisherKing · Aug 5, 2004, 12:09 AM

get a bluetooth mouse! check out bt boutique

i got a kensington pocketmouse; it's great to be wireless (and no usb-dongle hanging off the side of your powerbook!)

i also use a palm tt2 to sync with bluetooth.

nice!

cSurfr · Aug 5, 2004, 09:13 AM

Hmm, let's see. With my 12" Powerbook, I use the Apple Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, as well as my Sony Ericsson T610. One of the best phones around i think. Bluetooth has my vote for the most useful feature of the powerbook line.

perbl · Aug 5, 2004, 09:39 AM

I only wish apple could add support for using the audio gateway-feature, since it would be really cool to be able to answer and speak in the phone using the speakers and mic on the Powerbook

ort888 · Aug 5, 2004, 10:43 AM

Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly does having a bluetooth phone allow you to do? Use your computer to add numbers?

ryju · Aug 5, 2004, 10:50 AM

Originally posted by ort888:
Pardon my ignorance, but what exactly does having a bluetooth phone allow you to do? Use your computer to add numbers?

Using iSync you can send your Address Book contacts to your cell phone (sync them up); along with iCal dates/appointments.

A neat feature is when someone calls your phone a message in OS X will pop up showing you who is calling you (Caller ID) and you can choose to answer, hold, or decline.

Not to mention using the Clicker app.

irockdabari · Aug 5, 2004, 12:26 PM

can you access the internet with bluetooth and a bluetooth phone? i mean use safari on your mac through your phones connections. Or are you limited to just sending e-mails and whatnot?

sworthy · Aug 5, 2004, 01:36 PM

yea you can do that, search this forum, as I think someone did a 'how to' not too long ago.

cmoney · Aug 5, 2004, 03:09 PM

more on salling clicker:

this is one of the coolest programs out there! i'm using it with a palm tungsten t as a remote control for my airtunes setup. on the palm, you can wirelessly (through bluetooth) browse or search through your itunes music collection and hit play and the song streams wirelessly (through 802.11g) to your stereo (or whatever the airport express is hooked up to). all the while, your palm is wirelessly displaying the album art and time elapsed/remaining for that song! you can also see what's next in queue or select another song to play. it's really cool.

also on the palm is the ability to control your mac's mouse using the palm's touchscreen through bluetooth.

also, not related to salling clicker, if you leave your mac and bluetooth phone paired, when you get a phone call, your mac will display caller id info and give you the option to answer, ignore, respond by sms, etc.

Rickster · Aug 5, 2004, 04:56 PM

Here's some info on using a Bluetooth phone as an internet connection for your Mac:
http://homepage.mac.com/jrc/contrib/tzones/

What you can access and how it's billed depends on your cellphone provider and plan. Word has it T-Mobile subscribers don't need to sign up for the T-Zones or T-Mobile Internet plans -- without them you can still access the net but only for web browsing, with them all ports are open and you get access to an "accelerating" web proxy. I'm on ATTWS, and it appears my Bluetooth modem usage is being billed as minutes instead of against the mMode data plan (which covers WAP browsing and other data usage on the phone itself).

cSurfr · Aug 5, 2004, 11:39 PM

Originally posted by ryju:
Using iSync you can send your Address Book contacts to your cell phone (sync them up); along with iCal dates/appointments.

A neat feature is when someone calls your phone a message in OS X will pop up showing you who is calling you (Caller ID) and you can choose to answer, hold, or decline.

Not to mention using the Clicker app.

Now that feature is new to me...If your mac asks you if you want to answer the phone, can you then use your mac as a speaker phone ?

Rickster · Aug 6, 2004, 12:35 AM

Nope... clicking the 'answer' button in AB tells your phone to pick up. Sure would be nice if the Mac could pretend it's a headset.

You can also use Address Book to compose SMS messages and send them thru the phone.

perbl · Aug 6, 2004, 05:34 AM

Originally posted by cSurfr:
Now that feature is new to me...If your mac asks you if you want to answer the phone, can you then use your mac as a speaker phone ?

Sadly, this is one feat that is still missing on the Mac-Platform, though it works perfectly on my PC, where I use my desktop microphone and speaker system as a great handsfree.

sideus · Aug 21, 2004, 11:43 PM

Originally posted by perbl:
Sadly, this is one feat that is still missing on the Mac-Platform, though it works perfectly on my PC, where I use my desktop microphone and speaker system as a great handsfree.

Is this because no one has written software for this capability or is this an Apple Bluetooth limitation?

schalliol · Sep 8, 2004, 03:12 PM

bump...

I'd be really interested to find out if we could use the internal mic and speaker system as with iChat AV to use your cell call over BT. Given that iChat AV knows how to manage the speakers and mic to prevent them to feedback, I could see that someone might be able to essentially tap into that.

Lancer409 · Sep 9, 2004, 05:51 AM

is there a cheap bluetooth mouse?.. i already have one but the usb slot is on the left side (which keeps it clean) but it's wreaking havok on my short cord mouse. bluetooth mice are costing around 50+ bux .. INSANE ... hopefully i'll find a good price on one soon ...

MilkmanDan · Sep 12, 2004, 05:19 AM

Get a BT Mouse, a BT Phone, and a BT headset. I'm still lacking the phone, but I think I'll fix that problem eventually. I love my mouse and I love my headset. The headset makes my audio and video chats so much easier.

aljawad · Sep 13, 2004, 06:50 AM

Originally posted by ryju:
Using iSync you can send your Address Book contacts to your cell phone (sync them up); along with iCal dates/appointments.

A neat feature is when someone calls your phone a message in OS X will pop up showing you who is calling you (Caller ID) and you can choose to answer, hold, or decline.

Not to mention using the Clicker app.

Lets not forget: Address book allows you to compose SMS on the computer. This feature opened the world of multilingual SMS to me. I�d die of boredom before finishing a single SMS utilizing the phones tiny keyboard with my big fingers.

. Previously I used that darn Ericsson keyboard � but it had Latin characters only.
Oh, I also use BT with iSync (contacts & iCal), hot-synching my Palm, the occasional hook up to the internet thru GPRS and I just adore Salling Clicker.