Socket launches Bluetooth card

Socket Communications has released a Bluetooth card for handheld computers that run Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system. The Bluetooth card, which costs $179 and fits into a CompactFlash slot, is among the first to appear for a handheld computer. Bluetooth is a short-range radio technology that allows devices within 30 feet of one another to communicate without wires. Socket's card is designed to allow people to access e-mail via Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. But few Bluetooth-enabled products are on the market so far. Sony has launched a Bluetooth-capable laptop, and Toshiba is releasing this week a laptop with both Bluetooth and WiFi. The card from Newark, Calif.-based Socket is now available in Europe, where Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones already exist, and will be launched in the United States in October. Staff writer Matthew Broersma reported from London.