Apple looks to patent wired 'wireless' pairing

Alongside projection technology, another Apple invention revealed today by the US Patent and Trademark Office centers on the concept of wireless pairing. The patent notes that while many wireless devices -- namely those equipped with Bluetooth, like the iPhone -- require manual pairing to avoid interfering with others, the process itself can be somewhat cumbersome. This involves entering a PIN code, which must first be discovered in a manual, and then entered on an interface which is not always easy to use.

Under Apple's scheme, users would be able to exchange a PIN code between devices using a wired link. This could involve a USB or FireWire cable, and peripherals including but not limited to computers, phones, media players, printers and headsets. In theory, this would let users quickly pair a device like an iPhone to a Mac or PC, and after the first instance abandon the wired connection for proper wireless use, thanks to auto-configuring software.

Filed under: iPhone, Apple
Other story tags: patents, wireless, Bluetooth

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kyleharry

pointless...

03/20, 1:09pm, EDT

...in the extreme. People pair devices on the fly, and the PIN is invariably 0000.

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phillymjs

They'd better make a...

03/20, 1:44pm, EDT

...standard connector for the pairing umbilical, so you can use the same one for all your devices and don't render something useless because you lost the proprietary cable and can't pair it anymore without coughing up for a replacement.

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Dez

iPhone BT headset does!

03/20, 2:30pm, EDT

I think this is describing what the iPhone does when pairing it with an Apple Bluetooth headset. You just plug them both into the supplied dock, and the iPhone recognises the headset, and automatically pairs

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leamanc

@phillymjs

03/20, 4:05pm, EDT

If you lost your cable, whether it is "standard" or "proprietary," wouldn't you need to cough up for a replacement in either case?

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