Blue Fang is a freeware utility that simplifies the management of your handheld's Bluetooth radio. Features include:

• Displaying the current state of the Bluetooth radio in the command bar. This is useful for handhelds like the Tungsten T and T2 that don't provide any indication of whether the Bluetooth radio is on or not. (The command bar is the bar that appears when you enter the menu keystroke: diagonally up and to the right. It is not the status bar at the bottom of the screen on handhelds like the Tungsten T3 and T5).
• Convenient manual control of the Bluetooth radio via the command bar.
• Automatic control of the Bluetooth radio according to rules you define.

With Blue Fang it is easy to keep the Bluetooth radio off when you don't need it, and on when you do. As well as being a more convenient way of controlling Bluetooth, this helps to reduce the drain on your battery.

Blue Fang is compatible with handhelds that run Palm OS 5 and use Palm's Bluetooth stack with the exception of the Sony TH55 and the Treo 650. If you aren't sure whether this includes your handheld or not, you can try Blue Fang safely because it attempts to verify that it understands the Bluetooth set up of your handheld before doing anything. If it detects that it is incompatible with your handheld, its preference panel will display a message informing you of this instead of showing the configuration options.

Important: It is possible that future Palm OS phones may experience the same problem as the Treo 650. The major symptom is that incoming phone calls do not ring. Instead they display a dialog asking whether you want to turn Bluetooth on. If this happens on your Palm OS phone then Blue Fang is incompatible and you should uninstall it.

There is a choice of four languages for Blue Fang. The English-language version is named BlueFang.prc. There are also translations into French, Russian and German.

New Installations: To install Blue Fang simply HotSync one of the PRC files on to your handheld. If Blue Fang detects that it is compatible with your handheld it will enable itself immediately.

Upgrading: To upgrade, just HotSync one of the PRC files on to your handheld. Your old preference settings will be retained.

After installation Blue Fang will appear as a panel inside your handheld's preferences (it does not appear as a normal application).

Uninstalling: Should you wish to uninstall Blue Fang, delete it via the application launcher. If you are using a non-standard launcher and experience trouble deleting Blue Fang, go into Blue Fang's preferences and make sure the "Show status" option is set to "Never" and uncheck "Enabled" for auto mode, then try deleting it again.

Manual Radio Control

Blue Fang displays the status of your handheld's Bluetooth radio as a button in the command bar. A solid button indicates that Bluetooth is on, and pressing this button will turn Bluetooth off. An outline button indicates that Bluetooth is off, and pressing this will turn Bluetooth on. It usually takes several seconds for Bluetooth to turn on.

If another application is using Bluetooth when you try to turn the Bluetooth radio on or off, Blue Fang will ask you for confirmation. Although it is sometimes useful to be able to force Bluetooth on or off, you do run the risk of the application crashing or Palm OS's communications software entering a bad state which requires a reset to clear. In general it is best to quit the application that is using Bluetooth, and then try again.

Automatic Radio Control

You can create rules that tell Blue Fang when to turn the Bluetooth radio on or off. Each rule applies to a particular application, and defines what to do when that application launches and quits.

Available launch actions are to turn the Bluetooth radio on or off, or to leave it alone. Available quit actions are the same as for launch plus the ability to return the Bluetooth radio to the state it was in prior to the application being launched.

Examples:

• If you only ever use Bluetooth for HotSyncing: Define a rule that turns Bluetooth on when the HotSync application launches and off when it quits.
• If you use Bluetooth for HotSyncing, but often have it on for other purposes: Define a rule that turns Bluetooth on when the HotSync application launches, and restores the prior state when it quits. This keeps Bluetooth on when you are using it, and off when you aren't.
• If you usually have Bluetooth on, but often spend time playing a game that doesn't use Bluetooth: Define a rule that turns Bluetooth off when the game launches and restores the prior state when the game quits.

Configuration

Blue Fang is configured from inside your handheld's preferences. The Blue Fang preference panel provides the following options:

• Bluetooth radio: You can view and change the current state of the Bluetooth radio.
• Show status: Choose when you want to see the Bluetooth radio status in the command bar.
• Auto mode: The Enable checkbox lets you control whether the automatic rules are used or not. The Configure button opens the dialog where you can define and edit the automatic mode rules.

If Blue Fang is not compatible with your handheld, the preference panel will display a message saying this instead of showing the configuration options.

If you find a bug, or would like to send me any feedback about Blue Fang, you can contact me at benmichell@yahoo.com. If reporting a bug please include in your message the version of Blue Fang you are using, the type of handheld you have, and a description of the problem (ideally with steps to reproduce it). I can't promise to respond to every message I receive, but I'll try!

Special thanks to:

• Anthony Kruize for testing and suggestions.
• Jérôme Fresnay for producing the French translation.
• TAG and Willard for producing the Russian translation.
• Jan Steffen for producing the German translation.

When trying any new software it is a good idea to back up your handheld first. I have done my best to ensure that Blue Fang is free of bugs and is safe to use, but there are no guarantees. Use this software at your own risk: if you lose any data that is your problem! By installing this software you agree to this condition.

Blue Fang is freeware. It may be used and distributed freely provided that it is not modified in any way and this manual is included with the application.

• Blue Fang now reports itself as incompatible with the Treo 650. It seems that the way Blue Fang turns Bluetooth on and off confuses the phone application, resulting in incoming phone calls displaying a Bluetooth dialog and not ringing.
• Known issue: A rule defined for the HotSync application won't fire when a HotSync is triggered by pressing the button on the cradle. It only fires when HotSync is launched using the Palm itself (tapping on the HotSync application in the launcher, for example).

• Added the German translation from Jan Steffen.

• Added the French translation from Jérôme Fresnay.
• Added the Russian translation from TAG and Willard.

• The check for version 1 of Palm's Bluetooth software was too aggressive (it stopped Blue Fang from running on the Tungsten T3, for example). This test has been modified to look only for the Sony TH55.

• Blue Fang will now only run if the Palm Bluetooth software on the handheld is version 1. This is to avoid crashes on the Sony TH55 which has version 2 Bluetooth software.
• Added colour versions of the rule action images.

• The current Bluetooth radio state is now shown on the configuration form.
• Provided greater control over the display of the Bluetooth status button in the command bar.
• Added auto mode to allow the Bluetooth radio to be turned on or off automatically controlled by rules.
• Fixed a bug that occurred when Blue Fang reported Bluetooth as being in use when trying to turn it off. If you answered "No", Blue Fang would afterwards continue to say that Bluetooth was in use until you answered "Yes".

• Major bug fix: the radio was not being turned off properly.

• Initial release.