bluetooth

Bluetooth headsets seem to be getting smaller and smaller, and the Mini Blu II Bluetooth headset from FoneGear is no different. Debuting at CES is the upgrade to the previous Mini Blu line, and it weighs in at only 0.31 ounce. It's a Bluetooth 2.0 headset with a rated talk time of 4 hours and a rated standby time of 3 days and 3 hours. The Mini Blu II will be available in the first quarter of 2007, though we don't know its price yet.

Apple sneaked in a Bluetooth headset along with its big iPhone announcement today. It looks like a simple black stick of a headset and only has one button on the top. The headset also looks really thin and small, but we can't tell from the picture. We're guessing it'll launch the same time as the iPhone does in June.

There's no shortage of Bluetooth headsets here at CES, and the Gennum nx6000 stood out as one of the smallest ones we've seen. Weighing in at only 0.38 ounce, and sporting a more flexible earloop and smaller earpiece, the nx6000 is an improvement from Gennum's previous headset designs. It comes with a mini-USB jack for recharging and as a way to "future-proof" the device, as Gennum plans to enable consumers to download future firmware updates. The nx6000 has a battery strength indicator feature and utilizes Gennum's noise-cancellation technology, which isolates the user's … Read more

Just when we thought Plantronics couldn't improve their Discovery 600 headset series any more, here it comes with a brand new update, the Plantronics Discovery 665, which debuted at CES 2007.

Though it isn't a significant upgrade from the Plantronics Discovery 655, there are a few notable improvements. First, the headset itself is much slimmer and smaller than its predecessor. Second, it is packaged with a new sound-enhancement technology, AudioIQ, which optimizes sound quality on both sides of every call. And third, it comes with a sparkly headset-charging pocket that lights up whenever there's an incoming call. … Read more

Sometimes you chat. Sometimes you listen to music. Sometimes you alternate between the two on your music phone. And sometimes you alternate between the two using two different devices. Oh, why can't there be one Bluetooth earphone to handle all these situations?

Well, there is--the Jabra BT8010, to be released in the next couple months. First, it's a regular, single, over-the-ear Bluetooth earpiece with an OLED display that shows caller ID. You can also transfer up to 30 contacts to the headset in case you don't want to reach for your cell phone to make a call. … Read more

As we first reported in December, Ford and Microsoft have been busy working in collaboration on in-car communications and entertainment, to be unveiled this week at CES. Well, here we are today at CES, and we can spill the beans on details of the system to be marketed under the name "Sync."

Initially to be made available in twelve 2008 models across the Ford family and across the entire 2009 lineup from FoMoCo, the service will be a fully-integrated, flash memory-based system that enables drivers to call hands-free and to control a range of digital audio via voice … Read more

Iqua has made a Bluetooth bar (for lack of a better word) phone that attaches to the back of your car's headrest.

The L-shaped device allows users to be hands-free, and free of an ear piece in their ear, while driving and talking on a cell phone. As Gearfuse points out, the headset does offer stereo speakers. The $179 phone has a battery worth 10 hours of talk time, 650 hours of standby and comes in black or silver.

Sorry, but we just don't see Iqua's reasoning behind the Iqua Snake2 HHF-601. Wouldn't a device like … Read more

We've been accused of paranoia more than a few times, but we really do believe that there's a conspiracy afoot when it comes to earphones. We submit that earbuds and the like never fit anyone (especially us), but people are too embarrassed to admit it. They instead just constantly fidget and adjust them, pretending that it's "normal."

This is why we appreciate Bluetrek's new "ST1" Bluetooth earphones, which have a novel wraparound design that's actually meant to keep the buds in your ears. Mobile Magazine says they also have built-in controls … Read more

The new and improved Belkin TuneStage isn't slated to hit stores for a few weeks, but got our hands on an early unit and give it a test run. Right out of the box, we had the TuneStage II up and running in less than two minutes. Plug in the base station, run a connecting cable to any stereo or powered speaker system, and you're ready to use your iPod as a wireless music box. The new and improved transmitter dongle uses the standard iPod 30-pin connector, so unlike the original TuneStage, the TuneStage II is compatible with … Read more