Bluetooth Wireless MIDI on the Way from Midiman
 |
Prototypes
(Click for a close-up) |
July 27, 2001At the Summer NAMM Show, Midiman displayed a pair of wireless MIDI interfaces based on the Bluetooth standard. If your PC has a Bluetooth card in
it, you can connect to MIDI devices wirelessly! Theorectically, it is also possible to use a
pair of these as an expensive replacement for MIDI cables.
Bluetooth wireless technology is a short-range two-way radio designed to replace cable runs.
For example, if you have Bluetooth-equipped PC and PDA, you should be able to transfer data
back and forth by just holding the PDA a couple of feet away from your PC. Support for the
standard is still fairly nascent--Windows XP will not support it out-of-the-box. A Bluetooth
card for laptop costs around $150. Furthermore, early reports indicate that Bluetooth radio
may interfere with the popular 802.11 wireless standard since they both use the 2.4GHz
spectrum.
The prototype boxes Midiman had on display each had 2 DIP switches to select the radio channel, for a total of
4 channels available. For more information, visit their web site at www.midiman.net. | 
