The era of stereo Bluetooth is upon us. While A2DP - essentially the part of Bluetooth that enables stereo transmission of audio - has been around for years, it’s taken Apple two years to get off its duff and add it to the iPhone Bluetooth stack and, me being an iPhone LUVR, it took me that long to actually pay attention to A2DP. I’ve tested wireless Bluetooth headsets before but most of them made me look like Lobot from Cloud City.
The BackBeats are the first pair of Bluetooth stereo headphones that are actually worth looking at. They weigh almost nothing - one ounce - and pair with almost any A2DP compatible phone. The 906 model comes with a Bluetooth adaptor and costs $129.95 while this pair costs $99.95. Read More
Oh, I get it. Because it’s shaped like a bone. I was thinking of something else. Here’s the GameBone Pro, a gamepad for the iPhone and iPod touch. It connects via Bluetooth or 30-pin dock connector and features a built-in battery to provide a little extra juice to your device while gaming, plus a built-in speaker and headphone jack.
You might want to know that iRiver is making Bluetooth headsets now. Granted, the don’t look anything special; does any headset? Also, the first model, the A100, is currently only set for release in China.
Mice might not be the most stylish devices in the computer world. Most of the time ergonomics wins over style as your hand covers it anyway. But this Sony VAIO mouse forgoes the comfort for a drop dead gorgeous look.
Logitech’s Bluetooth mouse lineup has been somewhat non-exsistant lately, but the M555b takes care of that. This mouse seems like your standard two-button mouse but the wheel features the hyper-fast scolling that some love in the MX Revolution line. Plus the mouse features laser tracking and a low-battery indicator for the AA power source.
Ah, the Bluetooth headset. Often times, it’s the bane of any cell phone owner’s hands-free existence. You’re too cautious to stick it in your pocket because it’ll get caught up in your keys and covered in lint, so you forget to bring it with you. Or if you have it with you, it’s never charged because you always leave the proprietary cable at home.
Newton Peripherals, makers of the popular MoGo Mouse, have come up with a technologically-impressive and, perhaps more importantly, dead simple answer to the above problems. It’s a flat-folding Bluetooth headset that’s just five millimeters thick and rests in a tiny charging slot on the back of a super slim iPhone case. So your headset’s with you at all times and its charger is integrated right into your phone’s case, enabling you to split off your phone’s charging cord to power the micro-USB port that charges the headset.
Citizen in Japan announced the I VIRT M [JP], a new model in their series of Bluetooth watches that so far are available in Japan only. I am not sure if this is something many people anywhere would want, but the watches make it possible for users to interact with their cell phones.
The optical music market is still alive, folks. Pioneer is releasing a new high-end player for your listening pleasure. Not only does it support SACDs, but also sports a USB port for DAP or iPod connectivity along with Bluetooth audio streaming support. The circuity within is sure to improve the crappy MP3 audio file too, although it probably will come nowhere close to the pristine sound of a SACD through this player.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of the Apple Bluetooth Headset. After a valiant struggled against cheaper Bluetooth headsets - this one was $99 - it succumbed to relative disinterest and malaise. Read More
A precarious lawsuit is currently in the news in Germany: According to various reports, a streetcar driver in the Southern city of Karlsruhe made pictures of his private parts with his phone camera (while being on duty). As if that alone isn’t stupid enough, the guy also sent the two pictures out to the world via Bluetooth.
Tokyoflash, everyone’s favorite denizens of future town, need your help to pick their latest designs. They have about 12 crazy things and all of them are supposed to be some sort of Bluetooth solution that connects to a phone for hands-free listening. They want you to look at all these goodies and pick some favorites. Read More
Remember when people used to memorize phone numbers? How many of the phone numbers of the contacts in your cell phone do you know by heart? I know my wife’s and both my parents — that’s it. Assuming I’d want to get in the way-back machine and go to a simpler time, this Bluetooth-equipped rotary phone might do the trick quite nicely.
Who says that two isn’t a party? This Apple iPhone and Bluetooth keyboard look like they are having a rock’n good time. The two hooked up after an enterprising chap circumvented Apple’s approval and did it anyway. The hack isn’t mainstream or available to the public just yet, but judging by the interaction shown in the video, it must be coming soon. *fingers crossed*
These wrist-worn Bluetooth doodads seem to strike a delicate balance between full-fledged cell phones and feature-limited watch phones while at the same time alleviating the need to have a Bluetooth headset stuck in your ear all day. So instead of looking like you’re talking to yourself, you can look like you’re deeply engrossed in conversation with your forearm.
If you’re tired of seeing all those generic Bluetooth earpieces jutting out of people’s heads and you just have to stand out from the crowd, today’s your lucky day! Swarovski crystals adorn this swanky Bluetooth earpiece from LG. If you’re lucky enough to still have a job to be able to afford such a thing, you can announce that by wearing this, too.
Bluetooth transmitters are amazingly cheap, so expect to see more and more Bluetooth equipped gadgets. It doesn’t add substantially to the overall price to the gadget, and it might add some useful new functionality. Or maybe not. Consider the LG LBA-C300 Bluetooth enabled Qwerty Card.
The theme of this years CES seems to have been connectivity. Between Netflix being in everything, and the Palm Pre, it seems like the major focus is connecting your gadgets together, and doing it well. Along that vein, JVC has announced several new products with integrated connectivity options.
Does Mac OS X 10.5.6 break Bluetooth? That’s what some people are saying on Apple’s support forums, as are the jkOnTheRun guys. It seems that after applying the update—I haven’t bothered to update yet—the little Bluetooth icon disappears from the menu bar. Not only that, but the Bluetooth entry in System Preferences disappears, too. Without that, there’s no way to turn on and configure the service.
Short Version: I love wirelessness. I was using Bluetooth to connect handhelds, phones, and headsets since ~2004. While smart phones have mostly killed the PDA, their media capabilities scream for a good set of wireless headphones. Sadly the Samsung SBH-700’s are not those headphones. While the specs sound impressive, talk time up to 9 hours, play time up to 7 hours, standby time up to 140 hours and weight of only 38.3 grams, the reality was disappointing. Read More
Short Version: Another Jabra Bluetooth headset with O.K. sound quality and range, but sports a true on/off switch. Not a soft button, but a real, honest to goodness, on/off switch. Praise jebus!
