Article
3play is a Bluetooth audio dongle that begs to be misused | Engadget
My Comments
A common problem that affects any Bluetooth audio and mobile-phone setup is the way that most Bluetooth devices handle multiple source devices. I have covered this issue in a previous article concerning managing multiple Bluetooth source devices with one Bluetooth destination device (headset, speaker, etc). Here, I even highlighted how desktop and mobile operating systems don’t even handle connecting and disconnecting of these devices very well save for Android and Windows 8 and it requires you to pair up your wireless speakers with your iPhone every time you want to use them again.
3Play have come up with a Bluetooth audio adaptor that allows 3 source devices (smartphones, tablets, MP3 players) to this adaptor at the one time. In this implementation, if a device is paused, another device could be playing out the music, thus being based on a “priority” method.
What I would like to see of this is that 3Play could license the software out to other manufacturers who sell wireless speakers, Bluetooth audio adaptors and the like to allow for priority-driven multiple-device handling. Another way to solve the problem could be to enumerate each connected device as a logical source or sub-source which would work properly for home and car stereo systems. Here, a user operates a control on the system like a “Source” or “Band” button to select the Bluetooth device to listen to.
At least 3Play are answering the common problem associated with people showing up with Bluetooth-capable smartphones and tablets full of music and pairing them up to the same wireless speaker or music system.
