GPS receivers are not new devices to hit the market. In
fact GPS devices have been around for a very long time. Because of the
convenience of Bluetooth GPS Bluetooth devices have exploded in the
market. In fact just about every GPS receiver manufacturer provides a
Bluetooth receiver. Bluetooth GPS receivers provide GPS data without the
need to physically connect it to the PDA. GPS receivers utilize the Serial
Port profile for connection to the PDA. Once the GPS receiver is paired
with the PDA just about any Navigation mapping software or GPS utility can be
used. In order to properly use the software you must identify the proper
COM port to use for Bluetooth connection. The following steps below shows
how to setup a Bluetooth GPS receiver to be used on a PDA. In my case I
have setup a GPS device to be used with the Mapopolis software.
Unpack the GPS receiver and make sure that it is in
discovery mode. Check the receivers documentation on how to do this.
Open the Bluetooth Manager on the PDA and select New.
Select 'Explore a Bluetooth Device'.
Figure 5.1
Once you tap on 'Explore a Bluetooth device' and click next
the PDA will then search for any new Bluetooth devices. If your GPS
receiver has been properly setup in discovery mode your PDA should find
it. Tap on the discovered GPS device. Figure 5.2
The PDA will then try to determine the services available by
the GPS. Before that can happen the GPS will require you to
authenticate to make a connection. Usually Bluetooth GPS receivers use
a Passkey of '0000' to authenticate. Figure 5.3
Once the connection is authenticated your PDA will then
discover the services available on the GPS receiver. Tap on the
service and click Next.
Figure 5.4
Click on Finish. You should see a shortcut icon
created in the Bluetooth Manager. The icon will appear as a serial
cable. This is due to the fact that the GPS receiver uses the Serial
Port Bluetooth profile for data connection.
Figure 5.5
At this point you would then tap and hold on the GPS
shortcut icon and then tap on Connect. A double-arrow will then appear
on the shortcut icon to symbolize a successful connection to the GPS
device. Now in order for you to be able to use the GPS device with
your mapping software of choice you must identify the correct COM port to
use. From the Today Screen tap and hold on the Bluetooth icon and
select Bluetooth Settings.
Figure 5.6
Tap on the Services tab and select the Serial Port
service. Tap on the Advanced button.
Figure 5.7
The inbound and outbound COM ports for the PDA are
displayed. You want to use the inbound COM port. In my case the
COM port that I want to use is COM8. In order for your mapping
software to use the data from the GPS you must configure the GPS settings in
the software to use COM port 8. Also check your software documentation
to find out what baud rate you should be using.
Figure 5.8
Once the COM port is identified you can now go back into the
Bluetooth Manager and connect to the GPS. Then bring up the mapping
software and it should start using the GPS if configured correctly.
Bluetooth allows the opportunity to share resource between
computer resources. PDAs can easily connect to computers to share
resources. This is no different with PDAs. The ability to do
this gives mobile users great flexibility to share PDA resources between the
two devices. The most common practices of resource sharing would be
transferring files and sharing contacts or appointments. This can also
be done via IR but Bluetooth gives users a distinct advantage over IR
transfers. For one, Bluetooth transmissions are faster than IR.
Also you don't have to worry about line of site issues as you would with IR
connectivity. You can transfer data from one PDA to another from
across the room. The process to connect two PDAs is quite similar to
some of the above procedures.
Make sure that the Bluetooth Radio is turned on for both
devices.
Open the Bluetooth Manager on PDA that you want to use to
access the other PDA and tap New.
Figure 6.1
Select Explore a Bluetooth device and tap Next if prompted.
Figure 6.2
The PDA will now try to detect any active Bluetooth
devices. It should find the other Bluetooth PDA. Tap on the PDA
that you want to access. The icons with check marks are devices that
are already paired to this PDA.
Figure 6.3
At this point the other PDA should popup a screen indicating
that a Bluetooth connection is attempted. You must tap on the Accept
button to allow the Bluetooth connection. Then you will see the list
of Bluetooth services that are enabled on the PDA. In this particular
case I selected the OBEX File Transfer service. Once the service is
selected tap Next.
Figure 6.4
The connection process is now finished and a shortcut icon
is created according to the service you selected.
Figure 6.5
Once the shortcut icon to the other PDA is created then you
can connect to the PDA by doing a tap and hold then selecting Connect.
Being able to transfer files from one device to another is
very important for mobile professional users. Transferring files via
Bluetooth is a convenient way to share information without going through the
IR line up routine. The procedures in the Section
6 is relatively the same as here. If you do not have a Bluetooth
shortcut icon created for the other device then follow the procedures below.
Make sure that you have the Bluetooth radio active on both
devices.
Open the Bluetooth Manager on the PDA and select New (see Figure
6.1).
Select 'Explore a Bluetooth Device' (see Figure
6.2).
The PDA will now try to detect any active Bluetooth
devices. It should find the other Bluetooth PDA. Tap on the PDA
that you want to access. The icons with check marks are devices that
are already paired to this PDA (see Figure 6.3).
At this point the other PDA should popup a screen indicating
that a Bluetooth connection is attempted. You must tap on the Accept
button to allow the Bluetooth connection. Then you will see the list
of Bluetooth services that are enabled on the PDA. Select the OBEX
File Transfer service and tap Next (see Figure 6.4).
The connection process is now finished and a shortcut icon
is created according to the service you selected (see Figure
6.5).
Once the shortcut icon to the other PDA is created then you
can connect to the PDA by doing a tap and hold then selecting Connect.
Figure 5.2
Figure 5.3
