Bluetooth 6 could make Apple's UWB chip redundant.
  • Defaced@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    13 days ago

    Does it improve the bandwidth so higher quality codecs can be used without having to switch between good quality sound and shitty mics to shitty sound and good mics? I mean seriously, we’re in 2024 and we still can’t have quality parity with a wired headset when using Bluetooth because the bandwidth sucks so much ass that better codecs just can’t be used. Bluetooth can die in a fucking fire.

    • ugjka@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      13 days ago

      For desktop you can get headphones with a wireless dongle that doesn’t have to adhere to Bluetooth limitations and in fact most of them also have Bluetooth for phone use

    • filcuk@lemmy.zipEnglish
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      13 days ago

      I mean, yes, depending on the signal strength and interference. Can’t have tiny, efficient, powerful, reliable and wireless all. There are gonna be compromises.

      Any decent earphones will offer different codec and encoding support for high quality, good connection, or best latency.

      • CombatWombat1212@lemmy.mlEnglish
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        13 days ago

        Who are you, mr Bluetooth??

        Just kidding I hear ya, it just sucks from a UX standpoint but the world ain’t magic. I just wish we kept aux jacks at the very least smh

  • scratchee@feddit.ukEnglish
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    13 days ago

    I just want a headset that doesn’t descend into hissing at me in mono over a crackly 1940s phoneline whenever I dare to use the microphone.

    • lnxtx@feddit.nlEnglish
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      12 days ago

      Both of my Galaxy Buds sporadically losing signal when I have my phone in a pocket.

      • smokeymcpott@feddit.orgEnglish
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        12 days ago

        Jup, same here. But when I change it to the other pocket it’s all fine. Strange stuff. (The right front pocket works so much better than the left front pocket of the pants)

    • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
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      13 days ago

      I have some B&W Px2s and they’re fine when using the microphone, although the sound quality is the main selling point.

      Any of the AirPods that go in your ear have exceptional microphone quality.

      I find it hard to believe every pair of headphones you’ve ever tried has been trash, unless you’re just buying trash quality and expecting amazing hardware.

      • scratchee@feddit.ukEnglish
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        13 days ago

        Sorry for linking to the alien, but see this discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/44sxms/bluetooth_headset_goes_to_low_audio_quality_when/?rdt=57825

        As I understand it, standard Bluetooth cannot support quality audio and microphone.

        That said, lots of phones and headsets secretly support non standard profiles if you use the right hardware together, but at that point you can’t know if you’re going to get quality with your setup unless someone’s tested it thoroughly and half the time reviewers are either deaf or lying

        • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
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          13 days ago

          As I say I’ve had no issues with AirPods and my current B&W are passable.

          Sure for audio quality isn’t as good Bluetooth as wired but as some who listens to a lot of classical I don’t really have the ears that can distinguish between different bitrates.

          • scratchee@feddit.ukEnglish
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            13 days ago

            I’m no audiophile either, I don’t care what profile it’s in in normal mode, but everything is instantly a disaster in headset mode.

            I know AirPods have some non standard support to escape the Bluetooth mess on apple hardware.

            I want a headset that works on windows, my phone, and mac, which means I’m stuck with standard support, which basically means I’m stuffed.

    • ugjka@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      13 days ago

      I lost my watch in snow in forest once. Had to use one of those finder apps, centimeter level accuracy would have saved 2 hours

    • willougr@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      13 days ago

      This is why I turn off Bluetooth before heading into the supermarket… <tips tin foil hat>

      • CatZoomies@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        13 days ago

        No tinfoil hat needed. Retail stores are equipped with bluetooth beacons that tracks and monitors customer behavior. This in turn can be sold for targeted advertising. Another scary thought is that the tracking is so precise, it measures the distance your phone is from a product, including height. How high is the phone from the ground? The data points can be extrapolated to influence product placement: what products and prices influenced a customer to bend down and look at/interact with the product? How long were they in close proximity with the product? Based on the phone’s orientation, were they bent down to look at or passing by the product (indicating that they stopped for a separate reason and not necessarily for the product)? Did they buy it? Were they looking for coupons in my “retail store app” while next to the product, or somewhere else in the store? Where do customers often stop or gather in order to browse through coupons? Could we place Y products there? Where should we put the product in stores to maximize sales? What ads can we send to them as they arrive at the store? Based on aggregated data with the rich profile we built for this customer, are they likely to sign up for our rewards credit card? What is this customer’s income level? Have they purchased X product recently? What part of town do they live in? What products are popular there? Et cetera ad nauseum.

        Tracking is so predatory. Makes me look at my smart phone with disgust as the years go by, and I periodically grapple with the decision if a smart phone is even right for me or if it’s time to stick to a computer and a truly dumb phone going forward.

        Some public info about Bluetooth beacons: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluetooth-wireless-tracking-privacy.html

        Want to find Bluetooth beacons? Simply install a Bluetooth scanner app from your phone and head to a store to see them.

        Here’s how Shopify engages businesses on how to utilize Bluetooth beacons with their software package. Bought anything online? That site was most likely powered by Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/retail/the-ultimate-guide-to-using-beacon-technology-for-retail-stores

        • Emerald@lemmy.worldEnglish
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          13 days ago

          These beacons are small, inobtrusive electronic devices that are hidden throughout the grocery store; an app on your phone that communicates with them informed the company not only that you had entered the building, but that you had lingered for two minutes in front of the low-fat Chobanis.

          Well that solves the problem. Don’t let sketchy apps access your Bluetooth/location

          • xthexder@l.sw0.comEnglish
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            13 days ago

            They don’t have to be connected to see your device. Just like how Find My Device works by searching for the Bluetooth signal. You’d need to have Bluetooth completely off, so no smart watches or headphones for you in the grocery store I guess.

            • willougr@lemmy.worldEnglish
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              13 days ago

              Indeed! If Bluetooth is enabled on your device it will send beacon/polls and so be visible.

              The recent “Find your offline devices” enhancement to Android’s Find My Device app has made me wonder if having Bluetooth off is even enough?

              • CatZoomies@lemmy.worldEnglish
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                13 days ago

                Exactly, and this is additionally why it is predatory: you can’t opt out.

                It’s similar to Facebook. If you never in your life ever created a profile, well, Facebook has one for you regardless.

                The only way you can opt out of bluetooth beacons is to not bring your phone/smart watch/etc, or have either a hardware switch that disables your network functions or put it in a faraday cage. Also, because of data profiles and associations, if you’re walking into a store with your partner, expect that your partner should do the same or else it’s all moot. You’re associated with your partner and thus tracking and profiling occurs anyway.

        • herrvogel@lemmy.worldEnglish
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          12 days ago

          Wait, don’t Bluetooth devices randomize their macs like wifi to hide their identities from unpaired devices?

        • willougr@lemmy.worldEnglish
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          13 days ago

          <Replaces tin foil hat with Fedora>

          Thanks for all this info - I feel less crazy now!

          Some supermarkets are using digital price displays now. Can’t wait for the “adaptive pricing” like the personalised advertising in the film Minority Reports!

          Here comes Bluetooth MAC address: DE:AD:BE:EF. He often pauses near the chocolate biscuits so likely buys some. Lets update the choc biscuit pricing removing the sale pricing as he’ll buy them at full price anyway…

    • realitista@lemm.eeEnglish
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      13 days ago

      Very nice for home automation- have your music and lights follow you around the house for example. Check out Room Assistant

        • realitista@lemm.eeEnglish
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          13 days ago

          Yes, that’s what they strive for today but generally are not able to achieve. Better accuracy on the tracker would allow better accuracy on the room tracking, since to do that you essentially need quite accurate triangulation. You’ve got to multiply the innacuracy of 3 trackers together and that’s the innacuracy of the whole system. If each can be off by one meter, then you have a ~3 meter circle in which the thing can actually track you with confidence. Which is not enough to reliably say which room you are in. a 3cm circle would definitely be enough. Probably you could get by with up to 5-10 cm and still do pretty well.

      • anivia@lemmy.mlEnglish
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        13 days ago

        Or you could just get a Moto tag, which already supports Google FindMy and has centimeter accuracy thanks to UWB

              • xthexder@l.sw0.comEnglish
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                13 days ago

                It’s not a joke. UWB adoption could easily stay ahead of Bluetooth 6 adoption. There’s nothing requiring phone manufacturers to always update to the latest Bluetooth, just like there’s still not very many 5G mmWave phones available.

                It could go either way. Bluetooth 6 might be more familiar for manufacturers to implement, but if the hardware is different to support the accuracy, who knows?

        • stephen01king@lemmy.zipEnglish
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          13 days ago

          Bluetooth seems to propagate down the product line faster than UWB, so for people who wants budget devices but also have more accurate tracking functions, this might be better.

    • LarmyOfLone@lemm.eeEnglish
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      13 days ago

      I’d like something like a ring or wristwatch that unlocks my PC when I’m close enough to the keyboard, and locks it again when I go away. For that tracking would be pretty good.

  • pulaskiwasright@lemmy.mlEnglish
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    13 days ago

    Will this centimeter level tracking only work for paired devices or will retailers be tracking us even more closely now.