Make your work desk
wireless
It's time to cut the cord.
Get rid of desk clutter and board the Bluetooth bandwagon
Going wireless while you work is all
about customisation. It's about having your desk the way you want it;
uncluttered, cable free and with more room for either flowing, unencumbered
creativity...or more scraps of paper. Either way, let's not get ahead of
ourselves with wireless power in its novelty-grade infancy, all the wireless
keyboards, mice, and speakers in the world are not going to get rid of a power
cable or two below the desktop, even if that's only for the monitor and task
light.
Bluetooth is the reigning tech in
wireless, of course, but does Bluetooth equal smart home automation? That's a
bit of a stretch, with most wireless gadgets onetrick commodities, but the
ubiquitous Bluetooth smart tech is definitely a growing part of the digital
home and home office.
IHS Technology predicts that
Bluetooth Smart will be the fastest growing connectivity technology over the
next three years, partly because it's the only low-power tech natively
supported by all smartphones and tablets. For the desktop, it's perfect. Here
we're going to cover the main wireless moves you can make on your desk,
starting with your peripherals.
WIRELESS KEYBOARD AND MOUSE
This is where Bluetooth begins,
cutting the tether forever between keyboard and display. Choosing a wireless
keyboard is easy, with one golden rule above all others; make sure it's
comfortable. It's also worth checking that you can perform error-free typing
(look for slightly concave, curved keys with notable gaps between them), and
that the keyboard offers quiet keystrokes, too noone wants to hear you
tapping away loudly all day, least of all yourself.
There are plenty of other niceties,
from battery life and compatibility with smartphones and tablets (it's handy to
be able to whip away your keyboard for a work trip where a tablet will suffice)
to touch-sensitive backlighting and Apple or Windowsspecific keys. When it
comes to mice, always avoid travel mice, which are shrunk for portability and
don't encourage functionality, comfort or health.
WIRELESS SPEAKERS
Another stalwart of the wireless
desktop are cable-free speakers. There are hundreds of designs available, most
of which have one powered speaker as a hub and one slave speaker, though some
have the hub as a separate, small device. Those who work solely on an iPad
ought to spec some wireless speakers that play nicely with Apple AirPlay,
though another option is a portable Bluetooth speaker. They're mostly marketed
hugely ambitiously as festival accessories or travel gadgets, but are really
at their best on the desk. If you go down this road, size is all-important for
both sound quality and battery look for at least 10W of power and 10 hours
operation, though you're always going to need a microUSB cable to hand for
frequent recharges. All come with both a 3.5mm line-in for linking gadgets
without Bluetooth and a rechargeable battery.Versatility defined, in theory,
but some make a better noise than others. The rule is simple the bigger, the
better.
A second option for your desktop is
to be joined to a wireless multi-room music system, though most will give you a
choice of a single connected speaker unit or a hub that existing speakers can
be wired to. The former is cleaner in terms of fewer cables, but Bluetooth
often comes with one disadvantage that's audible to anyone who listens
properly; the sound is pretty thin. If there's one area where wireless isn't
better than wired, it's music.
WIRELESS HEADPHONES
Whether you work at home or in the
office, an expensive desktop speaker system is usually overkill and often
highly inappropriate. Step forward Bluetooth headphones, which will link
automatically to your PC or Mac once paired. Forget handy brackets or supports
designed to keep them within reach on a desktop when you don't need them,
they should be completely out of sight, so store them in a desk drawer.
If you work in a busy, noisy office
or house, go for noise-cancelling wireless headphones. Avoid claims of `noise
isolation', a meaningless marketing term designed to sell second-rate
earphones, and instead go for the real deal, which use tiny embedded
microphones that measure ambient noise levels, before creating `antidote' sound
waves that cancel out the low frequencies. The end result is a silence that's
worth paying the extra for. However, be careful not to buy noise-cancelling
headphones that don't have a passive mode.
SUPPORTING ACTS
Going wireless comes with one
massive drawback; everything needs recharging.The more you go wireless, the
more gadgets need a regular top-up, and when all of your wireless gadgets drain
simultaneously, it can be a problem. It's also worth bearing in mind that,
occasionally, Bluetooth gadgets won't play nicely. If you're on a deadline when
the mouse runs flat, you won't have the time or patience to wait for batteries to
recharge, or to make a third attempt at reestablishing a Bluetooth link. So
keep your old wired mouse in a nearby desk drawer where it can be quickly
accessed.
Many Apple users needlessly spend
big on the official Apple charger and batteries to help refuel their wireless
gadgets. Avoid the high fees by buying any brand of high performance AA size,
2,400 mAh batteries (anything smaller needs a weekly recharge) which work in
all Apple wireless keyboards and mice and any compatible battery charger.
Keep a charger, with batteries inside, attached to a nearby power socket. For
now, always having fresh batteries within reach is the right way to approach
the emerging age of the wireless desktop.
Jamie Carter @TechRadarIndia
MM12AUG15
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