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Walkie-Talkie application, over Bluetooth – a RobK idea

An application has appeared on the website of dailymobile that looks ever so suspiciously like the idea this hack had for utilising Bluetooth on handsets for the purposes of a Walkie-talkie.

The idea was aired to a few likeminded individuals following on from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group 10th anniversary this year. With even a communiqué passed along to the actual Bluetooth SIG outlining an idea, and who best to contact to progress it further.

The idea first thought up by yours truly, came about from the need of being able to speak to someone over a short distance. All without breaking into the allotted minutes a contract has per month, or running up a bill if a pre-pay contract was in play.

The other useful idea would be to reuse old mobile phones laying around the home, for quick and fast entertainment value for children. Every child likes to play soldiers, with the standard issue military equipment being that of a walkie-talkie.

There was even a thought it could even be useful in the recycling of handsets for emerging markets. With a view to provide mass cheap communications on a large scale, with higher end Class 1 Bluetooth devices.

There’s bound to be a mass of opportunities lying out there yet to be perceived for its uses and functions, far more than already thought of.

This just goes to show great minds think alike, or someone has run off with a great idea and will make a fortune over it. Here’s hoping it’s more of the former, than the latter.

There’s no bitterness that it’s now out there before development could be progressed on this project, with the simple wish that it will be used for the greater good.

Features in this version are along the lines of the ability to make half-duplex calls, by pressing the “Green” key on the application to send a voice message. It looks like many handsets can have this installed, so an army could be raised.

Think towards to the day when Skynet finally takes over and there will be no cell towers; this could be a darn little useful application for your mobile.

See more on the forum posting here for Symbian series 60 handsets.

9 COMMENTS

  1. I have to say, I'm somehow completely missing why this would be even remotely useful. Given that Bluetooth typically has a range of ~30 feet, and in real-world scenarios, even falls short of that, I don't really see why you wouldn't just step a bit closer to the person, or talk a bit louder.

  2. Also, the idea that Bt-to-Bt comms in a mesh network will make cell towers redundant is nonsense. Mesh networks collapse at about the 3rd or 4th order, as the overhead required to route packets to the correct node, with all nodes being aware of where to send them, grows exponentially. What was a few KB of message ends up being MB of routing data.

    Bt is a PAN technology – Personal Area Network. Just because you can hack something for an unintended use doesn't mean you should.

    Re Walkie-Talkies, £15 at Argos gets you something that will work over a few hundred yards, or through a few decent walls. No market there for a handset costing £100 to poorly replicate it. If it's a junk handset, post it to Africa where it can do some real good as the WAN device it is.

    /m

  3. I like where this is going. Motorola made the MOTOTRBO walkie talkie which has a voice over IP solution that's supposed to be released in early 2009. This is kind of like what you are talking about. In any sense, it's an exciting period for bluetooth.

  4. I like where this is going. Motorola made the MOTOTRBO walkie talkie which has a voice over IP solution that's supposed to be released in early 2009. This is kind of like what you are talking about. In any sense, it's an exciting period for bluetooth.

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