This is a short guide that explains what Bluetooth is as well as some practical uses of Bluetooth with cell phones.  Simply put, the primary use of Bluetooth with cell phones is to use a wireless headset that connects to your cell phone, there are many other benefits to Bluetooth as explained below, however, when people think Bluetooth and cell phones, they think about a wireless headset.  If you want to know more about Bluetooth read on, and, if you find this guide helpful, please click "Yes" in the blue title bar below.

What is Bluetooth?  The idea of Bluetooth is that it lets you use two electronic components like a cell phone and a headset without the need to connect the headset to the cell phone with a wire. Bluetooth is used in all kinds of electronic devices besides cell phones, its used in the computer industry to connect printers, mouses, and keyboards to your computer without the need to attach a wire, it is all done wirelessly using the Bluetooth standard. 

Connecting devices wirelessly is more complicated than it sounds, Bluetooth is a protocol that was developed for very short range radio frequency (generally about 10 meters) for the purpose of connecting electronic devices together wirelessly.  One interesting thing about Bluetooth is that the protocol was not developed by one company, rather, it was, and is, developed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) which is a not-for-profit trade association with over 4,000 members.  The Bluetooth SIG itself does not make, manufacture, or sell Bluetooth enabled products, it merely sets the standards that companies use when they make their products including cell phones and wireless headsets. So when you purchase a Bluetooth enabled product, you are not purchasing a product from the Bluetooth SIG, but rather from one of its member companies, like Motorola or Nokia, who incorporate the Bluetooth wireless standard into their products. 

Bluetooth and Cell Phones.  Recently, cell phone manufacturers, most notably Motorola, started manufacturing some of their phones with Bluetooth so they could connect with Bluetooth headsets (Motorola is also a big leader in wireless headsets) as well as other Bluetooth devices.  Some luxury car makers like BMW and Mercedes have Bluetooth devices in the car that lets you transfer your handheld cell phone call into the car's speaker system all done wirelessly and with just a tap on the steering wheel, its pretty slick. 

There is a lot of buzz around Bluetooth, however, there is surprisingly few cell phones that have the technology built into the phone.  If it is important to you, make sure the cell phone auction on eBay you are looking at says that the phone has bluetooth (you might want to double check it with some other ads by other sellers to see if they say the phone has Bluetooth just to confirm it).  The Motorola's Razr has Bluetooth and the Treo 650 and 700 have it (the Treo 600 does not for example, a relatively recent model phone heralded for its technological features but, it did not have Bluetooth). 

Bluetooth is a great technology, however, it appears that it may be a few more years before it is common in all new phones.  I hope you found this guide helpful, if so, click "Yes" below.  Also, visit me on eBay at JustCellular to see the wide variety of cell phones that I offer for sale.  I have been in the cell phone business a long time and I keep a wide variety of cell phones on eBay all the time.  Thanks, for reading.