Bluetooth Profiles Demystified [Part 1]
So what exactly are Bluetooth profiles and why do we need them? Several people have asked me this question lately so I'll share my thoughts with all of you on what Bluetooth profiles are really all about. We will start by taking an example scenario of sending a file from one device to another. We will look at how this simple task can be achieved using both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. By the end of this series of posts, you will have a good understanding of what problems Bluetooth profiles aim to solve and why they are so important.
So, let's jump right in...
Scenario
So, you've got this cool picture of you bungee jumping off of a bridge. The picture is stored on your camera [digital of course] and you would now like to send it to your PC to share on your website. Being the tech savvy, risk taking [you did go bungee jumping after all] geek type, you decide to do this wirelessly.
Sending a picture from your camera to the PC using Bluetooth
Let's take a look at the steps you would go through to send a file from your camera to your PC using Bluetooth.
- Find the other device. You would put the camera into "Discoverable" mode so that it advertises its name to anyone interested. Next, you'd fire up your PC and use the Device Discovery UI to find your digital camera.
- Pair with the other device. Great, so you've located the Camera and will now "pair" the two devices. So, you enter the same "pin code" on the desktop and camera. You now get notified that you have successfully paired with the Camera. Woo-hoo!
- Choose a service to use from the camera. Your PC now presents you with a list of options you can choose to talk with the Camera. For example, you might see options like "transfer file(s)", "view thumbnails", etc. For this scenario, you choose the "Transfer file(s)" option.
- Transfer your file.
Sending a picture from your camera to the PC using Wi-Fi
Now, let's look at the steps you would go through to do the same using Wi-Fi.
- Connect your camera to an Access Point. You would use the camera's UI to have it connect with an Access Point in the area.
- Connect your PC to the same Access Point. You would use the PC/laptop's UI to connect to the same Access point.
- Great, so both the PC and the camera are now connected to the same access point. Next, we just need to have the PC find the camera. You might do this by finding the IP address of the camera through your access point's management software. If you are lucky, the camera will let you view its IP address through the camera UI.
- Launch custom software to transfer the files. This software will likely ask you to enter in the address of the camera.
- Transfer your file.
Which do you prefer?
Which model makes the most sense to you? What might help improve the user experience in both cases?
I will follow up with my thoughts and explanation as to how this all works under the hood...
-Anil.
