Watch out for Bluejackers!
The PDA scene in Europe is rapidly expanding, with more devices being shipped each week. Helping to fuel this expansion is the rapid adoption in Europe of Bluetooth technology.
Yearly shipments of PDAs in Europe broke the one million mark for the first time during the last quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2003, while Smartphone shipments alone exceeded the two million mark. The rise in sales shows that there is more life in the handheld market than experts had previously predicted, partly due to the popularity of features such as GPS navigation.
HP topped the European PDA market with over 400,000 devices shipped—a 32.9% share of that market. Palm followed with 305,000 devices or 24.9% market share—a 19% decline in shipments from the same quarter a year ago.
At 2.2 million, shipments of all types of Smartphones were nearly twice those of PDAs, with Nokia leading by a wide margin with 1.7 million devices shipped (77.9% of the market) Sony Ericsson was second (9.7% market share) and Motorola (6.4% market share).
HP shipped over 400,000 devices in Europe last year.
Bluetooth and “bluejacking”
With the increase of PDA shipments, the number of consumers using Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones and PDAs has grown considerably, which has spawned the latest craze in Europe.
When two Bluetooth devices get within 10 meters of each other, they can be linked together wirelessly. Unlike an infrared link, a Bluetooth link doesn’t require a line-of-sight connection. Bluetooth was originally envisioned as a “wireless cable replacement,” to connect computers to phones, printers, and other peripherals. It has also been used to beam business cards, text files, and applications from one PDA to another. Recently, users of these devices have found a new way to use this technology—“bluejacking!”
Bluejacking occurs when people with Bluetooth-enabled phones and PDAs send anonymous messages to those with similar phones/PDAs nearby. The purpose behind this craze is to un-nerve other Bluetooth users and have a little fun. For example, if you’re riding the underground and you see another PDA user, you might send them a comment about the clothes they are wearing, or the book they are carrying. Don’t send anything ominous or nasty—just a simple message that lets them know you’re there. It might lead to an interesting conversation.
“Bluejacking”—sending a message to another Bluetooth-enabled device—can be easily done from Contacts.
It’s actually quite easy to bluejack. Open Contacts and create a new entry with the phrase “You’ve been bluejacked,” “You’re wearing a nice hat,” or something else in the Name field. Then go back to the Contact list view, tap and hold down on the new “contact,” and select the “Send via Bluetooth” option from the drop-down menu. A list of enabled hardware in the area should appear on your device. Select the device you want and send your message. As easy as that!
Wild stories on the Web suggest that “bluejacking” could infect a phone or PDA with a virus or allow a “bluejacker” to steal data. But despite its name, bluejacking doesn’t hijack the device or suck off information—it simply sends a message. The recipient can ignore it, read it, respond to it, or delete it.
Many Bluetooth developers have been testing this and it seems to be impossible to catch a virus from “bluejacking”—no damage can occur to your phone or PDA. In reality, Bluetooth is not the easiest way to get data off a PDA or phone. Some critics say that it’s easier to just steal the device than to get the data wirelessly!
Bluejacking can be achieved on any Bluetooth-enabled phone or PDA, although I don’t think it has been tried on the new handheld from BSQUARE Corp!
UK’s Vodafone to distribute unique BSQUARE handheld
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