Better Bluetooth support...

[ajack]

Can we have better bluetooth support in GNOME? Much like the Bluetooth stacks (Bluesoleil or WIDCOMM)... Is it possible?

[ejos]

I'm seconding this. I'm running the latest gutsy and have had nothing but problems using bluetooth.

[tighem]

Most of mine got better in Gutsy, so keep it up. I can now use a BT headset in skype and my Microsoft BT mouse works good. BUT, using both at the same time can cause the mouse to drag.

[marklid]

Please Please Please !

[Zdravko]

I don't want this feature, since I don't use it. I have never used it. I hope I will never use it.

[jespdj]

I don't want this feature, since I don't use it. I have never used it. I hope I will never use it.
Well, if you have a laptop with built-in bluetooth then a bluetooth mouse is a great thing to have - no wires, and no receiver sticking out of an USB port. And I can imagine having a BT headset for Skype would also be very convenient.

I don't have a BT mouse or headset (yet) so I don't know how well it works on my laptop with Gutsy yet. I tried to send photos from my phone to my laptop via BT but it didn't work (or I didn't do it the right way...).

[Zdravko]

I have a laptop with built in bluetooth. But I am afraid to use it. It might produce harmful radiation.
BTW, I don't own a single bluetooth device.

[AusIV4]

I have a laptop with built in bluetooth. But I am afraid to use it. It might produce harmful radiation.
BTW, I don't own a single bluetooth device.

Harmful radiation? Bluetooth is just another radio signal, and an incredibly weak one at that. Bluetooth is good for up to about 33 feet. 802.11 G Is several times stronger, ranging for maybe a hundred yards. Step up to cell phones, which broadcast to towers a few miles away.

All of these are new technologies that may have unintended consequences, but radio waves have been harnessed by man for over a century.

The first radio station was established 110 years ago (1897), and there have been people broadcasting signals that cover areas of hundreds of square miles ever since. If there were negative consequences of radio waves, you'd expect people who work in radio and TV broadcast stations to have a disproportionate number of health defects, but there is no record of this being the case.

[bethaviv]

I have a laptop with built in bluetooth. But I am afraid to use it. It might produce harmful radiation.
BTW, I don't own a single bluetooth device.

A lot of people may not have BT, but the point is to make the OS great for everyone and not just one individual person.

I don't have any BT devices for my computer (I have my phone and my logitech headset for it), but I still think there are a LOT more people who rather have this feature.

[Zdravko]

AusIV4 (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=166598), bethaviv (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=287205) - you are both right.

[aamukahvi]

I think Network Manager 0.7 will help with this in part:
A solid API and infrastructure to add stuff like Bluetooth DUN, Bluetooth PAN, cellular broadband cards, etc
http://liquidat.wordpress.com/2007/10/05/networkmanager-07-feature-list/

[David A Knight]

Well, if you have a laptop with built-in bluetooth then a bluetooth mouse is a great thing to have - no wires, and no receiver sticking out of an USB port. And I can imagine having a BT headset for Skype would also be very convenient.

Indeed. I use an apple bluetooth keyboard on my laptop when it is just sat on my desk and plugged into a monitor which is absolutely wonderful. As you say, no receiver sticking out anywhere, no wires + it has a range far better than any other wireless keyboard I have used. (and I got it just before apple went nuts and stopped selling bluetooth keyboards that had keypads which makes it even better :-) )

[Zdravko]

Do you really think bluetooth has so many uses?

[steveneddy]

I don't want this feature, since I don't use it. I have never used it. I hope I will never use it.

I thought the same thing, but when I noticed that when they built my laptop, they installed the Bluetooth chip , even though I never ordered it. I never noticed until I took the lappie apart for cleaning that it was even there.

When Gutsy was about to be released, I used the live CD to test it on my hardware, and when I noticed that the Bluetooth manager was there, I started thinking,

I really don't like the little stick thingy that I have to use on my laptop,

There are no rear facing USB ports.

So, to wrap it up, I prefer my Bluetooth mouse for the simple fact that I don't have to plug that stoopid thing in anymore. One less thing to carry, or loose.

:popcorn:

[Zdravko]

Aah, yeah. You mean it is more comfortable?

[priegog]

I totally agree.
We need graphical tools for managing paired devices, setting up services.. etc.
I found a wonderful little app written by someone from this forum that makes connecting bluetooth headsets much less of a pain. Unfortunately, he appears to have lost interest in developing it (even tho he said he'd start again after gutsy's release). here is his homepage http://www.stgraber.org/category/gbtsco/

Either way, this app is just a little patch to the huge hole that is bluetooth management in Ubuntu (and most of the other distro's too).
Bluetooth is here to stay and it's already a standard in most new laptops.
I think a team needs to be assigned to this (in my opinion) crucial part of any modern OS.

[meastp]

Well, if you have a laptop with built-in bluetooth then a bluetooth mouse is a great thing to have - no wires, and no receiver sticking out of an USB port. And I can imagine having a BT headset for Skype would also be very convenient.

I don't have a BT mouse or headset (yet) so I don't know how well it works on my laptop with Gutsy yet. I tried to send photos from my phone to my laptop via BT but it didn't work (or I didn't do it the right way...).

I bought a bluetooth mouse, Logitech V470 for Gutsy, and it works like a charm! Just had to open the bluetooth applet -> services -> input service and add device!
Much more hassle in WinXP, where I had to lower the "security level" to be able to pair the mouse (and also installl logitech drivers).

Phone didn't work, though. I am able to add it to trusted devices, but can not send files to computer or vice versa.

[desperado666]

try blueman