How iPod Bluetooth Earphones Work
Last modifiedThu, May 24, 2007

Walk out on the street of any city or town and you'll see someone walking down the street who appears to be talking to no one. You'll see a tiny Star Trek like headset clipped to the ear of the speaker, no phone or wires - that's Bluetooth technology in action.

Bluetooth applications continue to be developed and a recent survey by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group indicated more than 70 percent of consumers are familiar with the technology.

Well, that's fine but what does that have to do with your iPod. As it turns out plenty. Now, you can listen to your favorite music using wireless earbuds or headphones.

What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth wireless technology is nothing more than the use of radio communications but limited to very short range - typically 30 feet up to 300 feet. This makes it particulary well suited to connect your mobile phones, computers, PDAS, iPods, printers and digital cameras. Now, you can synchronize and transfer your data or music wirelessly and securely.

How does Bluetooth work?
Bluetooth operates on the very high radio frequency band 2.4 Giga Hertz. This frequency if free to use with no license required and is available everywhere.
Unlike other wireless technology, such as infrared, your digital devices don’t have to be facing each other to make the connection. As long as two Bluetooth enabled devices are within range of one another, the connection will be made. This means you can talk on a wireless headset with your mobile phone stashed in the other room, access data from your PC on your mobile phone, or wirelessly stream music from your iPod to your home stereo.

Bluetooth Essentials
Bluetooth uses frequency hopping in timeslots called adaptive frequency hopping (AFH). This AFH allows your devices to avoid interference from other signals by hopping to a new frequency after transmitting or receiving a packet.
Bluetooth has been designed to operate in noisy radio frequency environments, and uses a fast acknowledgement and a frequency-hopping scheme to make the communications link robust, communication-wise. Additionally, Bluetooth products use 128-bit encryption and a PIN code upon the first connection, giving you a secure connection.

Compared with other systems operating in the same frequency band, the Bluetooth radio typically hops faster and uses shorter packets. This is because short packages and fast hopping limit the impact of microwave ovens and other sources of interference.

Two transmission power levels
The Bluetooth radio is built into a small microchip and operates in a globally available frequency band ensuring communication compatibility worldwide. The Bluetooth specification has two power levels defined;
• a lower power level that covers the shorter personal area within a room about 10 meters or 30 feet, and
• a higher power level that can cover a medium range, such as within a home about 100 meters.
Software controls and identity coding built into each microchip ensure that only those units preset by their owners can communicate.

That's a brief description. You can purchase iPod bluetooth headsets or earphones. Many of these work with your cell phone too so that when you get an incoming call your music is interrupted and you can take the call.

To look at the different choices of wireless headsets for your iPod, we listed iPod Wireless Earphones here.

Didn't find what you were looking for, try the iPod Accessories Directory - upper left corner of this page. Enjoy!