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News > Gameboy Advance Users to Get Bluetooth Internet

#6083 - SimonB - Fri May 16, 2003 5:23 pm

Came across this story on games.slashdot.org.....

AEton writes "According to this Extremetech article, X-Tra Fun has developed a Bluetooth module for the Gameboy Advance which is expected to ship by Christmas 2003. The $49 module includes Bluetooth connectivity, although a cellphone or other Bluetooth device with Internet access is required to use the Internet, and it comes with an embedded eCos Linux kernel with a Web browser and 255 pages' worth of cache. A $99 upgrade adds a Secure Digital card slot and a dongle!"

#6123 - gb_feedback - Sat May 17, 2003 7:00 pm

These people approached me, and presumably a lot of others maybe a year ago. Although I replied twice I was surprised not to receive any further communication. I notice their delivery date has slipped a lot.

Although things may have changed in the meantime - it looked to me as though their cart was actually a GBC cart. This made me wonder somewhat about its commercial viability.

Personal observations only - and don't get me wrong - I wish anyone taking up this challenge success.
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#6128 - tepples - Sat May 17, 2003 8:40 pm

gb_feedback wrote:
it looked to me as though their cart was actually a GBC cart.

I just looked at the photo on ExtremeTech.com, and it didn't look like a GBC cart to me but just a longer GBA cart. Remember how some GBC carts with the rumble feature were longer than normal GBC carts? I'm assuming that this cart needs to be longer to hold the Bluetooth transceiver.
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#6146 - gb_feedback - Sun May 18, 2003 8:09 am

You could well be right - I'm just remembering that it used to say it worked on GBC or GBA. So I drew the obvious conclusion!

EDIT: I just looked at their latest site and it would seem that they have redesigned the product - the FAQ now says 'Advance only', although they have not removed the Gameboy Color logos from the tops of many pages. I suppose they responded to the inevitable feedback they would have got from producing a Gameboy Colour product at this late stage!
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#6197 - DracoX5 - Mon May 19, 2003 1:58 pm

The internet thing could be okay, but I kind of find it pointless to hook the GBA to a computer (wireless or not) when you could just play computer games online.

The thing that I really like about the product, however, is the mention of wireless LAN play. I've been looking for any kind of RF link for a long time. Can't wait 'til it's out!