Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Bluetooth's three-year roadmap. With lots of competition from Ultrawideband (UWB) Zigbee, and even 802.11n on the horizon, the Bluetooth folks want to ensure their spec doesn’t go the way of the dodo, so they’re nearing completion of the Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) spec for 2005, which will boost speeds up to 3 Megabits-per-secon (up from the current maximum of 1 Megabit-per-sec of Bluetooth 1.2). Also scheduled for implementation within the next three years (i.e. sometime after we stop caring) are security updates, power optimization, greater range (have they not seen Extreme Bluetoothing?), and multicasting, which would allow a Bluetooth device to communicate to seven devices at once. They say they’ll be able to maintain backwards compatibility for all this, of course. [Engadget] 12:27:12 PM   comments[]   Xingtone 4 Gets Around Verizon. Xingtone has announced version 4.0 of their software that lets you use MP3s as ringtones. The biggest new feature: the ability to use Xingtone to load your own ringtones even on Verizon's 'closed' network. In addition to just MP3 formats, they now also support WMA and OGG Vorbis in their $20 software package. They're really riding this whole 'getting around Verizon' thing, too. They're even offering a promotional short-clip version to Verizon customers. From the press release: "We drive users and traffic to these expensive, advanced networks," said Jonathan Schreiber, CEO of Xingtone. "The market should be flooded with entrepreneurs like us who can transform wireless networks into independent economies.  With Xingtone as part of the equation, music labels sell more music, carriers adopt more subscribers and fill their pipes, and consumers have more freedom  everyone should love Xingtone." Product Page. [Xingtone] [Gizmodo] 12:12:23 PM   comments[]

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