New Bluetooth Protocol Saves PC Data to PDAs, Phones

Transferring Internet content from a PC to your cell phone or PDA is about to get a whole lot easier.

On Thursday, at Ziff Davis’ Digital Life consumer electronics trade show in New York, the Bluetooth SIG—a group that develops and approves various wireless technologies for the specification—announced the release of a new version of the technology, called “TransSend”.

According to Michael Foley, executive director of Bluetooth SIG, the free client/server application will allow content such as maps, phone numbers, address cards or other text and image-based data from the web to be transmitted directly to a specific user’s phone or PDA with one click.

For users with a Bluetooth-enabled computer, text or imagine files can be sent by either clicking on a TransSend and Bluetooth icon located next to the web content, or by right clicking on specific information and then selecting to ‘TransSend’ the data to a mobile device.

Regardless of which method is used, the computer will automatically begin searching for Bluetooth-enabled devices in range and allow the user to select a final destination for the data.

Initially, TransSend-able content will be limited, according to the Bluetooth SIG.

But the group has spread the word about the application, and hopes that web developers will soon begin including TransSend buttons on their sites.

As has been the standard protocol for other Bluetooth applications, TransSend will use OBEX formats for things like calendar entries, contact information and text data.

The application will also only be supported by Microsoft XP and Windows 2000 operating systems, including Internet Explorer 5.5 and higher, at first.

Read the full story on PCMag.com: New Bluetooth Protocol Saves PC Data To PDAs, Phones

Check out eWEEK.com’s for the latest news, reviews and analysis on mobile and wireless computing.