Ideas on display at Microsoft's TechFest

Iria · Mar 2, 2006, 04:37 AM

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft researcher Mike Sinclair wants to teach two cell phones to dance.

By holding two phones together and briefly moving them in the same way, Sinclair said, the phones can generate an encryption key that will let them share data in a way that even a determined snoop nearby would not be able to intercept.

There are millions of cell phones out there with Bluetooth wireless technology, ideally allowing for all kinds of ad-hoc connections. However, security concerns, as well as the difficulty of creating sharing "profiles," mean that few of these hookups ever take place.

Raman Sarin, a software design engineer in Microsoft's research unit wants to solve the same problem but has a different approach. His idea, dubbed "Blue Rendezvous," is to have the users of two Bluetooth-enabled phones press the same button to signal that they want to talk to each other. Once that connection is established, the people can then send whatever information they like to each other: business cards, photos and the like.

Separately, both Sarin and Sinclair were pitching their ideas to Microsoft's product units as part of TechFest, a two-day internal science fair that runs through Thursday at Microsoft's headquarters here.
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Read More / Source: ZDNet

Mar 2, 2006, 04:37 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Ideas on display at Microsoft's TechFest REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft researcher Mike Sinclair wants to teach two cell phones to dance. By holding two phones together and briefly moving them in the same way, Sinclair said, the phones can generate an encryption key that will let them share data in a way that even a determined snoop nearby would not be able to intercept. There are millions of cell phones out there with Bluetooth wireless technology, ideally allowing for all kinds of ad-hoc connections. However, security concerns, as well as the difficulty of creating sharing "profiles," mean that few of these hookups ever take place. Raman Sarin, a software design engineer in Microsoft's research unit wants to solve the same problem but has a different approach. His idea, dubbed "Blue Rendezvous," is to have the users of two Bluetooth-enabled phones press the same button to signal that they want to talk to each other. Once that connection is established, the people can then send whatever information they like to each other: business cards, photos and the like. Separately, both Sarin and Sinclair were pitching their ideas to Microsoft's product units as part of TechFest, a two-day internal science fair that runs through Thursday at Microsoft's headquarters here. ___________ Read More / Source: ZDNet