What is "Bluetooth"?

Bluetooth, named after a 10th Century Danish king, is a wireless protocol for connecting devices over short distances. It is used primarily for such devices as cordless headsets, phones, keyboards, mice and printers. The maximum range for Bluetooth devices is about 30 feet, so it is not used for connecting a computer to the Internet wirelessly, which is better handled by Wi-Fi (or 802.11a, 802.11 b, 802.11g, and 802.11n devices). Bluetooth is a secure connection protocol; generally, you must type in a PIN number of about 7 characters to connect one Bluetooth device to another.