Wii and Bluetooth

by Elizabeth Blair York | December 7th, 2007

Don’t tell my son, but Santa is bringing us a Wii for Christmas.

And by ‘Santa’, I mean my enterprising husband - who hunted one down over Black Friday and stuffed it in the back of our closet. This is the display of some of the greatest restraint ever shown by a techno-crazy man.

One of my concerns about getting a Wii was the barrage of ‘Ping! Splat! Wowza!’ that would echo through our house at all hours as we engaged in Mario-Sonic Olympics.

Not to worry.

As it turns out, Wii is Bluetooth-enabled. An excuse, if ever one was needed, to buy several MoGo Headsets when they roll into production. This will create a truly personal and wireless playing experience.

On the flip side, having those cool Wii-remotes (’Wiimotes’) be Bluetooth-based means that several enterprising hackers have found ways to turn them into mice for your computer.

Because the remotes aren’t designed for that use (unlike the MoGo x54 series) , the results of these experiments have been very interesting.

Perhaps my favorite is the guys who turned their Wii motes into Lightsabers on their Macs.

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  • Ask Elizabeth: Is the MoGo Mouse going to drain my laptop battery?

    by Elizabeth Blair York | June 29th, 2007
  • Is the MoGo Mouse going to drain my laptop battery?
  • Q. I’ve searched the MoGo documentation, MoGo reviews and your blog looking for mention of whether or not it is a good idea to simply leave the MoGo mouse in the PC Card slot after it has fully charged, but when it is not being used. My concern is whether or not the mouse continues to drain power from the battery even when it is fully charged? (From Rob)

    A. Rob asks a good question. To find the answer, I hunted down Jack Corrao, a VP of Newton Peripherals (maker of MoGo Mouse).

    I suspected MoGo used a smart battery, and that’s exactly what Jack confirmed;

    The MoGo Mouse includes an intelligent battery management systems that slowly ramps down charging requirement from PC Card slot as it gets close to full charge. Once the MoGo is fully charged, the MoGo does not drain any power from your laptop.

  • Using a Bluetooth Headset with Multiple Devices
  • Q. I hadn’t considered using my Bluetooth headset with my laptop before. Can I do that, and then still use it with my phone at the same time? C. (Anon.)

    A. In short? Yes.

    But you need a ‘multipoint’ kind of headset that is designed specifically to do this.

    Normally, however, you can synch (or ‘pair’) your Bluetooth headset to multiple devices but you can only connect it to with one thing at a time.

    This is how it works. Say you’ve paired up your headset to your phone. Then a co-worker sends you a rough cut of your company’s latest ad campaign and you want to watch it on your Bluetooth-enabled laptop without broadcasting the sound, but your wired headphones are riding somewhere in the back pocket of a 747 where you accidentally left them.

    No problem. Simply put your headset in pairing mode and use your laptop’s Bluetooth manager to find it. Now the sounds of the MVID will be sent to your ear but not your neighbors’.

    (If your laptop has never ‘found’ your headset before, then you’ll have to initialize it the first time. If your laptop is Bluetooth-enabled [or you’ve purchased a ‘dapter], start by putting your headset into ‘pairing mode’. This is usually holding down a button until a light blinks, see your manufacturer’s instructions. Then go into the Bluetooth control panel on your laptop and have it ‘discover’ your headset. Once your laptop finds it, you’ll be be prompted for a PIN. Once you’ve done this the first time, you’re off to the races - switching is a matter of holding down the button on the headset and having the device ‘find’ it.)

  • Can I use a MoGo mouse with my desktop PC?
  • Q. Does the new MoGo mouse have to be used with a laptop? I want to use it on my regular PC. (Anon.)

    A. While some PC’s and most MAC’s do generally come now Bluetooth-enabled and adapters are available (or on the way) if yours isn’t, the other thing a MoGo mouse needs is a PC Card slot to charge up - something not commonly found in a desktop system.

    So you can certainly pair up a MoGo mouse to work with your PC, you may need to hunt up a laptop to charge it. However, now that you’ve asked the question maybe you’ll spur some product development :)

    ————————————————————————————————

    On Fridays, MoGo Mobility’s Elizabeth will seek to answer your MoGo (and non-MoGo) technical questions.

    Elizabeth is a professional writer & geek with most of the last decade spent in senior management at a leading global IT provider. Thousands have attended her seminars in the US & Canada on subjects ranging from basic TCP/IP networking to high-end data storage solutions.

    Got a question? Ask Elizabeth.

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  • Attack of Bluespamming & Bluecasting

    by Tyler Knott Gregson | June 26th, 2007

    I guess it goes without saying that with every cool new technology that pops up, before too long someone, somewhere, figures out how to use it for absolute pure evil.  Evil in this case, being the beyond annoying Spam that we’re all so accustomed to in this day and age.  Spammers, have been around for ages, and now that Bluetooth is an official staple in our daily lives, well many of us Mobile Warriors, does it really surprise you that they’ve taken it to the next level?

    That’s right, Bluespamming, Bluecasting, whatever you want to call it, it’s all about what we’ve talked about here before:  tapping into the open Bluetooth market and sending messages, voicemails or a combination of both to your Bluetooth enabled device.   The article I just read dives into this very controversial topic and it got me thinking about a question they posed:  “If a person does leave their Bluetooth sensor in the on status, does that mean they welcome these messages?”  I want to know your opinions on the topic, so please, sound off in the comments section.

    My opinion, no.  If I left my car window open while driving down the road, does that mean I want people to throw things in at me?  If I stopped on the sidewalk to open my briefcase of messenger bag, does that imply that people can come check out what is inside it and add things if they want?  No.  Simply No.  Just because I’ll soon have a sweet MoGo Headest, doesn’t mean I want to hear commercials on it as I walk by certain buildings.  Simple as that.

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