My favorite Bluetooth solution: AirShare

If you read my September 2004 article, Get More Out of Bluetooth, you know there are a lot of exciting Bluetooth hardware and software applications available for Windows Mobile devices.

However, there’s a new Bluetooth application that has hit the scene, which actually adds new features to the Bluetooth connections you already have. AirShare, from Mobile Stream, adds Bluetooth FTP functionality to your Windows Mobile device (Figure 1, below).

Figure 1: AirShare enables wireless FTP file transfer over Bluetooth on your Windows Mobile device.

The software enables the Bluetooth FTP profile on devices that are capable (see Bluetooth stack list below) and allows you to perform authentication and encryption using standard Bluetooth protocols. Once enabled, you can FTP files back and forth between your Windows Mobile device and any Bluetooth-enabled PC, even without installing ActiveSync on the computer!

AirShare only works with the WIDCOMM/Broadcom or BlueSoleil Bluetooth stacks, so you’ll need to make sure that your handheld isn’t using the Toshiba Bluetooth or Microsoft Bluetooth stack (because they reportedly do not support BT FTP). The software will connect you with Windows Vista/XP/2000 as well as Mac OS Tiger computers. The developer also plans to add WiFi support in the future.

AirShare is available from Mobile Stream. There’s a free trial version available, or you can purchase the software for the very fair sum of $9.95. There’s a lot of promise in this application, and I’ll keep you informed as the developer adds new features to the software.