What is Bluetoothing?
Bluetooth is a low-power, short-distance wireless networking standard developed for small portable devices such as cell phones. Bluetoothing is the practice of establishing a Bluetooth connection between two or more devices.
Pairing
Before two Bluetooth-enabled devices can communicate, they must be within 30 feet of each other and they must be "paired." Pairing, which usually requires a password, creates a secure wireless connection between two Bluetooth devices. Pairing can only be performed when both devices are manually placed in "pairing" mode.
Wireless Headset
For example, to connect a Bluetooth wireless headset with a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, you need to place the headset into pairing mode and have the cell phone search for new Bluetooth devices. A common method of placing a Bluetooth wireless headset into pairing mode is by pushing and holding the power button until an indicator light flashes, often in alternating colors.
Cell Phone
If the cell phone is hunting for new Bluetooth devices at that time, the headset's identification information will show up on the cell phone's display. The process of accessing the Bluetooth menu on a cell phone varies widely from phone to phone.
Final Steps
Selecting the headset in the cell phone's menu and entering the password listed in the headset's manual will cause the phone and headset to be paired and ready for use together. At this point, your devices are paired and you're "bluetoothing."
Other Devices
While the specific instructions for linking other Bluetooth devices to each other varies, the basic concept of placing each device into pairing mode is always used.
More Information
The Bluetooth standard is maintained by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which maintains a list of Bluetooth-enabled devices on its website (www.bluetooth.com).
Tags: cell phone, Bluetooth devices, pairing mode, into pairing, into pairing mode, Bluetooth wireless, Bluetooth wireless headset