Bluetooth is a technology that lets your computer, monitor, mouse, keyboard, PDA - in fact anything with a Bluetooth chip communicate by radio instead of cables.

It's useful because it not only saves on messy cables but also allows you to easily synchronise information between devices.

So, the next time you want to update your address book on your PDA from the one on your computer you'll just need to place them near each other - no plugging in!

No cables or line-of-sight

Until recently, if you wanted to print from your PDA or digital camera you needed to get a cable and then plug it into your computer - which then sent the data to your printer.

It's a lot of work so companies developed infra-red. With this you could point a device with infra-red at another one and they could communicate. Hey presto - no cables!

The problem with this is that you had to have a 'line-of-sight' from one of the devices to the other.

With Bluetooth, and other wireless technologies, the devices just need to be within range of each other. For Bluetooth, this is within about 10 metres.

What it's used for

The main thing about Bluetooth is it's cable free. So, you can connect to the internet on your laptop computer even though your mobile is at the bottom of your briefcase.

It makes synchronising your address book, calendar and to do list on your computer, mobile or PDA much easier - they can sync without even asking you!

And the lack of cables means you can have the computer in one part of the house but use the monitor and printer in another.