Bluetooth vs. 802.11g

            In our world today technology seems to be advancing at very fast pace, and with the advancements in our technology, people seem to have the urge to do everything on the move and wirelessly. With the urge of people wanting to have the freedom of being wire-less, two different technologies have been developed to meet the people's demands. Bluetooth and wireless networks (also known as 802.11b) seem to be the same to many, but the truth is that each one has it's own advantages and disadvantages.
             I would have to say that in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East bluetooth is more popular than wireless networks, while in the United States wireless networks are more popular. The reason behind this is because of the products that use bluetooth and the products that use wireless networks. Bluetooth technology can be found in almost all GSM mobile headsets these days, and since these headsets are much more popular in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East people tend to go for bluetooth capable devices instead of devices that support wireless networking. Given that both of these technologies are wireless and operate on airwaves, there is a limiting distance that can be used with each one to network the different devices. Normal bluetooth devices can connect to other bluetooth devices while being ten meters away at the most, while wireless networked devices can connect to other devices at a range of 100 meters. It is said that in the short term as bluetooth gains popularity in the United States, users will tend to give their devices bluetooth capabilities using external devices, but on the long-term bluetooth will tend to be integrated more and more different appliances and devices.
             Speed is another issue when comparing these two different types of technologies. Bluetooth can transfer data at a rate of 720 Kbps while wireless networks have the capability of transferring data at a rate of 11 Mbps, which is around 15 times faster than bluetooth.