Is you bluejacking me?

Have you tried bluejacking? Using bluetooth phones to send messages to other bluetooth enabled phones in your vicinity? Try this site for more details: www.bluejackq.com/whatis.htm

At the moment it's the basis for childish pranks, but as more people get bluetooth-enabled phones this could be a way of making contact with people just because they happen to be in the same place as you. So at a local meeting or forum you could ask people to turn on their bluetooth and swap reqests for help, or make announcements, in the style of text messages.

What else could it do?

Comments

[Tom Hume]

Mark

I've posted quite a lot of thoughts about bluejacking at www.tomhume.org - there's been some lengthy discussion of it on www.mobitopia.com and the UK-wireless marketing list run by Chinwag too.

Basically, my thoughts:

* Bluejacking isn't widespread yet.
* Those who are using it aren't the teenagers who characterised early SMS users, they're students and young professionals (Bluetooth phones tend to be high-end right now)
* It may lack the usefulness to go beyond novelty or prank value. Organising messages, reply, etc. are all cumbersome. There's little need for a new way of contacting people within 10 feet of you (but see below).
* There will definitely be other applications based around Bluetooth which get people connected locally. It will be gaming that drives this (look at the positioning of the Nokia N-Gage, etc.)

What you're suggesting (mediating contacts at meetings) seems similar to the product that www.ntag.com offer. Personally I think there are better ways of getting people communicating than this...