Submitted by Mike Grenville on Wed, 05 Nov 2003 22:01

Just as users once discovered SMS and made it into the industry it is today, is the same about to happen with Bluetooth? A new craze called 'bluejacking' might be just the catalyst to get users asking for phones with Bluetooth.

Previously only available in a few expensive handsets, Bluetooth is becoming a standard feature of an increasing number of mobile phones. Now its ability to identify open phones within its 10 metre range has been turned into a sport called Bluejacking.

Bluejacking involves searching for another Bluetooth-enabled phone within a 10-metre range and then sending a vcard from your contacts to it. You probably only thought of putting boring things like your name in the contact details. But you can set up a contact in your address book with a whole variety of creative messages from the straight forward 'you've been Bluejacked!' to personal comments such as 'I like the clothes you are wearing'.

Bluetooth can be used for more than sending vcard messages and you can also send pictures this way. You could send a photo of yourself or be really sneaky and take a picture of your victim with your phone and send it to them! Sending an amusing or even shocking picture will be a quick way to identify who you have bluejacked from the reaction from the victim in the crowd.

Bluejacking however dosn't work with all phones with Bluetooth as most phones ship with bluetooth off or in none discoverable mode though with Nokia it is turned on by default. Frustratingly for potential Bluejackers, Sony Ericssons only stay "discoverable" for a maximum of three minuites.

Undoubtedly one of the main contributing factors to bluejacking's success is the fact that Bluetooth messages are free. However the buzz comes from not knowing who you are making contact with and could add a whole new dimension to flirting in bars or even trains including the underground.

SMS flirting services in bars such as www.mamjam.com have proved popular in the past and could be impacted as people opt for this unregulated type of flirting.

As well as vcard messages and photos, Bluejacking can also be used to invite people to play games such as golf. One could for example play with someone in another carriage on a train journey that you might never get to meet. This is particularly easy for games that come as part of the phone and with the new Nokia nGage will take on a whole new life.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced last week that more than 1 million units were shipped per week worldwide during the third quarter. So is Bluejacking just a fad or is it set to become a business driver? Analysts have been quick to dismiss Bluejacking as just a fad and point to in-car devices as the area with growth potential for Bluetooth devices.

But car owners and young teens and twenty somethings are quite different markets. Were these the same analysts that dismissed text messaging as a fad? With the Christmas sales bomamza almost upon us we may find out quite soon when retailers report that a quite different demographic is suddenly choosing phones based on Bluetooth capability.

How to Bluejack

• Ensure Bluetooth is turned on
• Create a contact in your phone's address book using your message as the name
  Tip: put the main message in the name field as this is the part that will be displayed even if the recipient declines to accept the message. So if you set the username as "You have just been Bluejacked!" the recipient will get a message: "Incoming message from: 'You have just been Bluejacked.' Would you like to accept?"
• Choose to send the contact via Bluetooth
• A list of Bluetooth devices in the area appears on your phone
• Choose a phone and send your message