Well, I guess Apple snuck another one past everyone. The new iPod touch not only has a speaker, volume controls, curved back, and a slimmer profile, it also has bluetooth.
Well…kind of.
You see, Apple announced nothing about the iPod touch having bluetooth built in. The spec sheet fails to list it. But the fine folks over at iFixit have done the deed that I get scared just thinking about; they cracked open the new iPod touch to have a look inside the guts of the monster.
What they found was a Broadcom BCM4325 Bluetooth chipset, capable of 2.1+EDR. They couldn’t figure out whether it supports A2DP for stereo bluetooth headphone support; but it doesn’t really matter…yet.
Apple could really make some great use out of this if they so choose. Think about the possibilities. First off is the use of a bluetooth headset, to enable things like VOIP or voice notes. Or how about a bluetooth keyboard? You could browse the web faster, type notes faster, and even use the iPod touch as a mini tablet computer. They could even add mouse support, though that would seem to go against everything the multitouch interface stands for.
If it really does have A2DP support, I’d love to see Apple enable it. Cutting the cord on my headphones is something I really would enjoy doing, especially since I just bought a pair of bluetooth headphones. There’s just something about having no cords between my pocket and my ears.
I have more ideas still. How about wireless syncing with your computer, mobile file transfers between devices, game controllers, or drawing tablets? There are so many possibilities. Unfortunately, all of these possibilities have been just that since the launch of the iPhone over a year ago, where bluetooth support has been there since the start. The only bluetooth feature enabled on the iPhone is the headset. Obviously, all of my ideas will remain possibilities unless Apple enables them.
That said, the addition of the bluetooth chip into the new iPod touch does hint that Apple has something in mind. So maybe, just maybe, touches—and, who knows, even iPhones—may be getting increased bluetooth capabilities in the days to come.
[Update] As pointed out by Engadget, and an Appletell reader, this is very likely the Nike+ receiver that was announced by Apple to be inside the iPod touch. It’s still a shame that Apple doesn’t expand the usability of bluetooth on the iPhone.
well it is bluetooth:) just was wondering why the new update includes bluetooth^^
A question, not a comment. I'm somewhat uninformed, Got an I-Pod Touch 3rd generation with BlueTooth. Why isn't it compatible with my Plantronics Explorer 320 BlueTooth ear piece that I got from Verizon with a cell phone purchase 3 years ago?
I just looked into this, because I actually thought that you could. Here's a link to an Apple chart detailing the support for bluetooth across iDevices: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3647 Turns out, you can only pair stereo bluetooth headphones with an iPod touch, not a bluetooth headset. And yes, that it quite strange, considering that A2DP, or stereo bluetooth, is actually more complicated, and typical support is the opposite. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple updates that in a future version of the iDevice OS, but until then, this remains quite ridiculous.
Does Jabra BT3030 works on Ipod touch 3g?
I don't own one, but after quick Google search, looks like it does work, however fast forward and rewind do not.
That's not Bluetooth. It's the Nike+ receiver, which uses similar frequencies but isn't Bluetooth compatible.
My two son's each have an iPod Touch. Is it possible for these two devices to link up so they can play multiplayer games in the car via bluetooth? Seems like the devices are searching for bluetooth devices but don't seem to ever find each other.
I need to know if there is possibly a bluetooth headset that will work with my ipod touch 3rd generation i bought a motorola bluetooth headset recently that did not work can anybody tell me specificately what bluetooth headset if any will work with mine,Thanks Tim.