Recently, I have purchased a bluetooth dongle for my computer to transfer ringtones, images and other media files to my cellphone. This device with such a funny name provides comfortable data transfer at decent distances and at faster speeds, transforming the old irda in an obsolete and unpleasant device.
While enjoying using it to upload and download images to and from my mobile phone, I asked myself if the utility of this device could be extended. Can we take advantage of this technology for other purposes?
Basically, the bluetooth works on similar basis like the irda, but at an advanced level.
Well, if the TV sets use irda to be remote controlled why shouldn't we try to use the bluetooth enabled phone to control a desktop or laptop that includes a bluetooth port?
Regarding this matter I tried to transform a cellphone into a remote control without installing any software on my computer. What devices did I use?
The cellphone used to do the trick is a Sony Ericsson K610i, which has the advantage of having a special function built in that permits to control the mouse movements while communicating with the computer through the bluetooth connection.
The bluetooth dongle is a Canyon Bluetooth CN-BTU2 USB 2.0 Adapter. This adapter uses the Microsoft drivers, hence there is no need for more drivers to be installed. The test has been undertaken on a system with Windows XP Home edition installed and using the Service Pack 2.
Bluetooth adapter installationPlug in the adapter into an available USB port and wait while the installation finishes. There is no need for the user to intervene. Everything goes smoothly. An information bubble with inform you that the adapter have been successfully installed. Looking at the system tray you will notice that the bluetooth logo icon will reside there. To setup the newly installed bluetooth adapter just click on the icon.
Creating a connection link between the two devicesNext step means connecting your computer to the mobile phone using the bluetooth connection. To find the mobile phone in range click on the bluetooth icon in the tray and under the Devices tab click Add. This will open an installation wizard, which will guide you through the process of detecting the mobile phone. In the first window make sure you checked "My device is setup and ready to be found" but not until you activated the bluetooth on the cellphone. When you click next, it will scan for the bluetooth devices in range. Assuming the phone is the only device, it will be displayed after the scan finishes.
Once found, select it and click next. In the next window choose: "Let me choose my own passkey". This option is for security reasons, and you must provide a passkey that will permit the pairing between the computer and the mobile phone. Immediately after you enter the passkey and click next, check the phone because you will be asked to enter it there too. After the authentication succeeds, the device will be assigned with an outgoing and incoming COM port. Windows will detect what services can be attached to the new device found (mobile phone).
To see the installed services for the phone, select Properties and go to the Services tab. One service interests us in particular: "Drivers for keyboard, mice, etc (HID)". This service permits the phone user to control the mouse pointer and not only by using the phone's keyboard.
Controlling the computerNow comes the fun part! As I told you, the Sony Ericsson phone model I tested, K610i, comes with an enabled software that permits control over the computer especially over the mouse movements and Media Player control.
To control the mouse movements, use Remote Control Desktop and to control the Media Player application (play, stop, pause, ff, rew etc.) use the Remote Control Media Player feature.
Now just sit back and relax on the coach while watching a movie. You got a remote control right on your mobile phone. Now it's easy to control the movie or even shut down the computer with your brand new gadget.
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