Princeton's tiny Bluetooth adapter with big 300-foot range

Yes sir, you're looking at a tiny 4.5 x 23 x 14-mm USB Bluetooth adapter with a hearty 100-meter range. It's also Bluetooth 2.0+EDR so you can expect to push a data rate of up to 3Mbps. Princeton's 10-meter adapter released in August now looks like school on Sundays -- no Class 1. Look for the PTM-UBT4 to hit Japan and beyond for ¥2,980 (about $28) later this month.

[Via Impress]

[JLTate @ Feb 15th 2008 4:01AM]

That's freakishly tiny. I get the feeling I'd accidentally remove it while unplugging a different device and then lose it on the floor behind my computer.

[Jake @ Feb 15th 2008 10:20AM]

The receiver for the Logitech VX Nano mouse is as small or smaller than this. I just leave it plugged in to my laptop all the time - no need to take it out. You don't have to worry about unplugging it by accident. Even when I'm plugging and unplugging other devices my fingers don't even touch the receiver, it's so tiny.

[DarkLightConnection @ Feb 15th 2008 4:09AM]

That is one tiny BT adapter... the one I have (20 meter) is more than twice as big and got a relatively weak power...

And it isn't even expensive given it's power and form factor, the price of mine is $24 (sans import bills).... I got it for free because I'm a "loyal customer", anyway, so I don't regret my "purchase" :-P

[Valgas @ Feb 15th 2008 4:09AM]

.......... How the hell is that even possible? Very cool.

[ClaMs @ Feb 15th 2008 8:21AM]

Just what I thought. I almost wish I didn't have built in BT, so I would have reason to buy it.

[Michael LaFramboise @ Feb 15th 2008 4:11AM]

Pretty impressive, reminds me of the RF adapter for one of Logitech's mice.

[IsLNdbOi @ Feb 15th 2008 4:21AM]

I guess no one remembers the Cirago model?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833242001


This Princeton adapter trumps it though with it's 100m range.

[patsy @ Feb 15th 2008 8:37AM]

Never mind that the previous Princeton adapter never seemed to actually be for sale anywhere except in overpriced fashion on ebay. I had never even heard of the Cirago, even though I once in a while scan newegg's BT dongle offerings. Thanks, I'm off to get one right now.

[Paul @ Feb 15th 2008 8:58AM]

The difference is that the Princeton adapter is supposed to have a 100 meter range, while the cirago one has a 10 meter range.

I have been waiting for the MoGo Dapter, because it seems like it is less likely to get caught on my laptop bag. However, it just got delayed from a January release to a possible March release.
http://www.newtonperipherals.com/mogo_dapter.html

[patsy @ Feb 15th 2008 10:31AM]

For me personally I simply don't have any use cases that would make a 100m BT range of any importance. I primarily use it to sync my phone to my computer.

[JJV @ Feb 15th 2008 4:30AM]

is there even a point in having BT thing 100m away from you? Why do you need it that far away from your computer. If you are syncing a phone or whatever, you still are generally next to the computer to make sure everything is syncing well...

On another note the form factor looks cool, kind of like my 1gb USB drive.

[Mike @ Feb 15th 2008 5:05AM]

100m range in theory when outside in line of sight and without any devices near by... so when you're looking about in a house it's strong enough to go through a wall or two, handy for Pc to mobile applications and personal area networks :)

[Shawn @ Feb 15th 2008 5:09AM]

BT headphones.

[Ladderless @ Feb 15th 2008 11:01AM]

I could see some presentation applications, where the computer is in the back of an auditorium by the projector...

[Randy @ Feb 15th 2008 7:25AM]

I hope this works with bluez.

[derF @ Feb 15th 2008 7:55AM]

Hope this happens. I had been holding out for the 'MoGo Dapter' (http://www.newtonperipherals.com/mogo_dapter.html) but it's been delayed, delayed, then delayed again. Now, Newton no longer even shows a release date on their web page. Besides, for $20, no way could Newton compete in this price range with their overpriced stuff -- for this reason, maybe the MoGo will be NoMo!

[Wwhat @ Feb 15th 2008 8:22AM]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/24/princetons-itty-bitty-usb-bluetooth-2-0-edr-module/

[Prosthetic Lips @ Feb 15th 2008 8:57AM]

Hey, this one is a whole 5mm smaller (19mm for the PTM-UBT3S, 14mm for this one). That's over 25% reduction in length.

Maybe this adapter should take some "male organ length" drugs from teh internets!

[tsaone @ Feb 15th 2008 9:21AM]

This Princeton adapter trumps it though with its 100 range

[Omar @ Feb 15th 2008 10:50AM]

I'm glad I've been sitting on the hacks for my Eee PC: this thing'll be perfect.

[Teetdogs @ Feb 15th 2008 11:45AM]

Exactly what I was thinking, I really want bluetooth on my eee but hacking it to bits to put internal doesn't seem all that great as your warrenty goes bye bye and most dongles are to big to have in the unit all the time but this one seems to fit the bill nicely, that cirago one seems like it could be a good fit too though since I really dont need a 100 meter range to tether my htc titan.

[The_Steven @ Feb 15th 2008 11:57AM]

Sign me up!

[Christian @ Feb 15th 2008 1:08PM]

I don't care much about the distance it can do though it does sound sweet but the size does impress me.

[DrorHarari @ Feb 15th 2008 1:28PM]

It will not work unless on the other side these is the same gadget - neither my phone's bluetooth nor my laptop's could reach across 100m

[chadow @ Feb 15th 2008 5:00PM]

Its small enough to be wired/soldered inside the case, and 3 times cheaper than the BT module I was about to buy and install internally on mine.

[aubrjas @ Feb 15th 2008 6:33PM]

Now the PS3 can be a little more reasonably integrated into a Universal Remote system based on IR. It's too bad the PS3 doesn't support an on/off function via USB (from what I've read).

[Genome @ Mar 4th 2008 9:40AM]

one word: "bluejacking".

[Brett @ Apr 10th 2008 2:47AM]

it's avaialble now for export world-wide:

http://conics.net/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=255