Learn more about Bluetooth Headsets

To hang up a call you simply hit the same answer/ end button and it will then terminate the call. This allows you complete hands free mobility and eliminates any chance of being booked by the police for talking on your mobile phone.

In South Australia and NSW, all drivers who use a hand-held mobile phone while driving face an on-the-spot fine and will incur three demerit points.

For a complete list of demerit point fines and penalties please refer to your state or territory Government traffic authority.

Once your mobile phone is paired with your bluetooth headset your headset will beep every time your phone rings. All you need to do is hit the button on the side of the headset and it will answer the call. You do not need to touch the mobile phone at all and it can be left where it is.

 

Check your user guide. But as a rule, any phone sold in the last couple of years will almost certainly be Bluetooth compatible. If you don’t have a user guide then look for the connectivity menu within your mobile phone and see if there is a function to turn bluetooth on.

You simply need to pair the tow devices together. Pairing is the term given when you enable two different devices to talk to each other wirelessly via the bluetooth protocol. In this case we are talking about a mobile phone and a mobile bluetooth headset but you can also connect other devices such as computers, laptops, and more.

In order to pair to devices you will need to follow the instructions in the headset manual. You will need to go to the connectivity menu in your mobile phone and make sure that you turn the bluetooth function on (providing your mobile phone supports bluetooth that is).

You should also get your mobile phone user guide ready as you may experience some difficulty finding the right menu section. Your mobile phone will then ask you to find new devices once you are in the right section. Once it has established contact with the bluetooth headset your mobile will then ask you if you wish to PAIR with the headset.

It really is that simple. You only have to go through the pairing set up once. The great news is that once you’ve paired two devices together they will sync to each other anytime they are powered on and within bluetooth range.

Today's wireless world means that data is being sent invisibly from device to device and person to person. This data, in the form of emails, photos, contacts, addresses and more, needs to be sent securely. Bluetooth wireless technology has, from its inception, put an emphasis on security while making connections among devices.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), made up of more than 8,000 members, has a Security Expert Group. It includes engineers from its member companies who provide critical security information and requirements as the Bluetooth wireless specification evolves.

Implementing Bluetooth Security

Headset manufactures that use Bluetooth wireless technology in their products have several options for implementing security. And there are three modes of security for Bluetooth access between two devices.

• Security Mode 1: non-secure
• Security Mode 2: service level enforced security
• Security Mode 3: link level enforced security

The manufacturer of each product determines these security modes. Devices and services have different security levels. For devices, there are two levels: trusted device and untrusted device. A trusted device has already been paired with one of your other devices, and has unrestricted access to all services.

Services have three security levels:

• Services that require authorization and authentication
• Services that require authentication only
• Services that are open to all devices
• Misinformation Surrounding Mobile Bluetooth Security

There has been some poor information surrounding security and Bluetooth wireless technology.

The reality is the encryption algorithm in the Bluetooth specifications is secure. This includes not just mobile phones that use Bluetooth technology, but also devices such as mice and keyboards connecting to a PC, a mobile phone synchronizing with a PC, or a PDA using a mobile phone as a modem, to name a few of the many use cases.

Cases where data has been compromised on mobile phones are the result of implementation issues. The Bluetooth SIG diligently works with members to investigate any issues that are reported to understand the root cause of the issue.

If it is a specification issue, we work with members to create patches and ensure future devices don't suffer the same vulnerability. This is an on-going process. The recently reported issues of advanced "hackers" gaining access to information stored on select mobile phones using Bluetooth functionality are due to incorrect implementation.

The names bluesnarfing and bluebugging have been given to these methods of illegal and improper access to information. For more information about Bluetooth security and protocols please visit www.bluetooth.com

In laypersons speak, Bluetooth is a technology or protocol that allows to devices to talk to each other without wires. It is encrypted and therefore secure.

Bluetooth wireless technology is a short-range communications system intended to replace the cables connecting portable and/or fixed electronic devices. The key features of Bluetooth wireless technology are robustness, low power, and low cost.

The Bluetooth Core System consists of an RF transceiver, baseband and protocol stack. The system offers services that enable the connection of devices and the exchange of a variety of data classes between these devices.

Want a more technical explanation?

Radio

The Bluetooth RF (physical layer) operates in the unlicensed ISM band at 2.4GHz. The system employs a frequency hop transceiver to combat interference and fading, and provides many FHSS carriers. RF operation uses a shaped, binary frequency modulation to minimize transceiver complexity. The symbol rate is 1 Megasymbol per second (Msps) supporting the bit rate of 1 Megabit per second (Mbps) or, with Enhanced Data Rate, a gross air bit rate of 2 or 3Mb/s. These modes are known as Basic Rate and Enhanced Data Rate respectively.

Radio Channel

During typical operation, a physical radio channel is shared by a group of devices that are synchronized to a common clock and frequency hopping pattern.

Piconet Consists of Master and Slave Devices

One device provides the synchronization reference and is known as the master. All other devices are known as slaves. A group of devices synchronized in this fashion form a piconet. This is the fundamental form of communication for Bluetooth wireless technology.

Frequency Hopping and Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH)

Devices in a piconet use a specific frequency hopping pattern which is algorithmically determined by certain fields in the Bluetooth specification address and clock of the master. The basic hopping pattern is a pseudo-random ordering of the 79 frequencies in the ISM band. The hopping pattern may be adapted to exclude a portion of the frequencies that are used by interfering devices. The adaptive hopping technique improves Bluetooth technology co-existence with static (non-hopping) ISM systems when these are co-located.

Time Slots and Packets - Full Duplex Transmission

The physical channel is sub-divided into time units known as slots. Data is transmitted between Bluetooth enabled devices in packets that are positioned in these slots. When circumstances permit, a number of consecutive slots may be allocated to a single packet. Frequency hopping takes place between the transmission or reception of packets. Bluetooth technology provides the effect of full duplex transmission through the use of a time-division duplex (TDD) scheme.

In order to pair to devices you will need to follow the instructions in the manual. You will need to go to the connectivity menu in your mobile phone and make sure that you turn the bluetooth function on (providing your mobile phone supports bluetooth that is).

You should also get your mobile phone user guide ready as you may have difficulty finding the right menu section. It will then ask you to find new devices. Once it has established contact with the headset it will then ask you if you wish to pair with this device.

It really is as simple as that. The great news is that once you’ve paired two devices together they will sync to each other anytime they are powered on and within bluetooth range. You only have to go through the pairing set up once.

See our complete range of mobile headsets here.

Pairing is the term given when you enable two different devices to talk to each other wirelessly via the bluetooth protocol. In this case it might be a mobile phone and a mobile bluetooth headset.