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| 2010-03-10 Posted by MobiG @ 12:41 am  [Thanks, juanvaldez] Update: Turns out PuntoCellulare just recycled a shot of the M100S, so we don't yet know what the M120S will look like; the screen's a bit smaller on this new model, for one thing, so we should be dealing with a more diminutive shell. Samsung SHW-M120S to be first Android phone with Bluetooth 3.0? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
2010-03-05 Posted by MobiG @ 9:57 pm  We were glad to see Bluetooth low energy actually added to the Bluetooth 4.0 spec, but of course the question remained: when are we going to get our hands on it? By Q4 this year, apparently -- at least according to the Bluetooth SIG. But don't expect any dramatic changes in battery life for most of your gadgets: while the low energy spec introduces connectivity to a host of lower-power devices that have in the past relied on proprietary technology (such as watches, pedometers, and cats), your traditional Bluetooth devices, such as phones and laptops, will consume roughly the same amount of power. Indeed, the low energy spec is merely throwing smaller devices (with smaller amounts of data to transfer) in to the mix: if you want Trans-Siberian Orchestra to sound as glorious as ever on your wireless headphones, you'll need to push as much data (and hence draw as much power) with version 4 as you would with version 3. If you've ever heard "A Mad Russian's Christmas," you'd know what we're talking about.Bluetooth 4.0 devices to make the scene later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments
2010-03-04 Posted by MobiG @ 7:48 pm
However all the rest of the Bluetooth functionality will be present, including the ability to hybridize a WiFi connection initiated with a Bluetooth link for higher-speed transfers. Says Foley, users shouldn’t necessarily expect significant power savings over previous versions when moving to Bluetooth 4.0; beyond the low-energy mode the rest of the profiles will use around the same amount of battery. [via Slashdot] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
2010-03-03 Posted by MobiG @ 4:53 pm Novero has several products that are for Bluetooth mobile phones. The last new product from the company was the Lexington headset unveiled in February. Novero is unveiling three new products this week called TheTalkyOne, TheTravelOne, and TheCarOne.
Strange product names aside, the gear is interesting. TheTalkyOne is a Bluetooth speakerphone designed to be used in the car or in the office. The device has text-to-speech feature and can read the names of callers aloud from caller ID and can read text messages to you while you drive. The device can pair with two phones at once and has DSP noise reduction and echo cancellation features. The battery is good for 180 hours on standby and 15 hours of talk time. TheTravelOne is a charger that can be used all around the world with adapter plugs for the US, UK, EU, and NZ sockets. The device is offered in black or white colors and has a microUSB cable for charging from a computer. TheCarOne is a microUSB cable charger that plugs into the DC outlet in your car. All the gear is available on Amazon with TheTalkyOne at $139, TheTravelOne for $39.95, and TheCarOne for $29.95. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
2010-02-28 Posted by MobiG @ 5:05 pm After Intel prematurely pulled the trigger on their Atom N470 announcement yesterday, we’ve now got official confirmation about one of the first netbooks to use the new, 1.86GHz processor. The Gigabyte TouchNote T1000 is, as the image suggests, another of the company’s convertible netbook-tablets, with a 10.1-inch 1,366 x 768 touchscreen and a choice of the N450 or N470 CPUs.
Two versions of the T1000 will be offered, the T1000X with a 4-cell, 4,500mAh battery and the T1000P with a 6-cell, 7,650mAh battery. Both netbooks will have 1GB of RAM, a 250GB HDD and Intel GMA 3150 graphics, along with WiFi b/g/n, 10/100 ethernet and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. Ports include two USB 2.0, an eSATA/USB combo, audio in/out, VGA, ExpressCard and a multiformat memory card reader; there’s also a 1.3-megapixel webcam, microphone and 1.5W stereo speakers. No word on pricing, but we’re guessing this won’t be an especially cheap netbook – Gigabyte will probably tell us more at CeBIT 2010 this coming week.
[via Xataka] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
2010-02-26 Posted by MobiG @ 6:24 pm We’ve a soft-spot for odd Twitter-enabled devices – anything that lets us follow the SlashGear tweets in unusual ways has to be a good thing – and so Macetech’s Twitter end-table, which also throws in some multi-color LED action, is proving particularly appealing. The project builds on their previous LED table, an IKEA coffee table wired up with 81 RGB lights in a 9×9 grid, adding in a Bluetooth Arduino shield for wireless connection to a nearby MacBook Pro.
The MBP has some custom code that uses the Twitter API to pull in anything tagged #ledtable, squirting those messages over to the table. The tweet then scrolls across the LED array, while the app waits 30 seconds before searching again. Future developments include two-way feedback from the table itself, potentially adding sensors that could allow it to send its own messages to a Twitter account. Alternatively, you could hook up several different devices via Bluetooth and have them each display different kinds of status updates: server status in the office, say, and personal messages in the bedroom. The whole thing cost around $600 to make; more details here. [via MAKE] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
2010-02-25 Posted by MobiG @ 5:45 pm We are all familiar with apps for our smartphones and with Bluetooth headsets for hands free talking separately. What we are not very familiar with is a Bluetooth headset that has its own app store. Bluetrek has unveiled a new headset called the Crescendo that is the world’s first to support online app store uploads.
The headset has apps that can be accessed free via the Talk2Me App Store. The Talk2Me store offers apps for the headset to increase its functionality with things like the Personal Handsfree Assistant Dial2Do service that lets the user listen to their emails and speak a reply to be sent back out. The service can also read text messages to you and lets you reply to a text with your voice. A search app called bing411 lets you search for information online using your voice too. The headset itself uses voice commands for operation and has NoiseLock technology. NoiseLock promises to block as much as 85dB of external sound like wind and traffic noise. It’s not clear if the apps the headset works with are actually stored on the headset, uploaded to the mobile phone, or accessed via a dial-in number. The headset is good for five hours of talk and seven days on standby per charge. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
Posted by MobiG @ 5:18 pm
A Smart Grid is a network inside a home that connects new smart electric meters with other meters and devices. The goal is to allow the homeowner to see how much power they are using and reduce that usage via monitoring. The Bluetooth SIG is specifically eyeing low energy Bluetooth for the Smart Grids because the tech can run in devices powered by small coin cell batteries for a long time. Another big benefit of integrating Bluetooth into the Smart Grid in homes is that almost all of us already have devices in our house, including smartphones and computers, that work with Bluetooth. That means monitoring the electrical usage inside the home could be done right on your phone rather than having to invest in new gear. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
2010-02-24 Posted by MobiG @ 3:10 pm Philips have revealed their plans to take on the PMP and PND markets in one fell swoop, with the upcoming Philips GoGear Connect. An Android 2.1 based device, with a touchscreen and trackball, the GoGear Connect will not have integrated cellular connectivity – it won’t replace your smartphone – but it will be able to tether via Bluetooth or hook up to a WiFi hotspot.
Video demo after the cut VoIP use will be aided by a speaker and microphone, and there’s also GPS for using the GoGear Connect as a sat-nav handheld. Also tipped is haptic feedback for the display, a memory card slot, rear-facing camera (no word on the resolution) and a range of internal storage kicking off at 8GB and rising to 64GB. Philips have developed their own custom UI for the PMP – which you can see in the video below – which unsurprisingly prioritizes media playback. No word on pricing or specific release dates, though a Q3 2010 period has been tipped. [via Android Community] Relevant Entries on SlashGear
2010-02-23 Posted by MobiG @ 5:26 pm Announced last month, Jaybird’s SB1 Sportsband Bluetooth Headphones may be intended for gym-goers – in fact they come with a lifetime guarantee against sweat – but with discrete styling and a reasonably budget $89 MRSP are likely to appeal to those nowhere near the treadmills. Are the Jaybird’s cheap and cheerful, or does audio quality let them down? Check out the SlashGear review after the cut.
The packaging is nicely designed, but not exactly stuffed full. Inside the flocked-plastic insert sits the SB1 headset itself, along with a small printed “Quick Start” guide and a USB charging cable that ends with a non-standard plug. Jaybird rate the – non-removable – battery as good for up to 8hrs music or 11hrs talktime, and a full charge takes 2.5hrs. The battery indicator – which is on the outside, rather than discretely tucked on the inside edge as we prefer – lights red when charging and turns off when complete. Controls are all clustered on the left-hand earpiece, with a central power switch/multifunction button – that, held down, kicks the SB1 into Bluetooth pairing mode – surrounded by track skip and volume keys. Underneath is the power port and a microphone for using the SB1 as a hands-free headset. The multifunction button operates play/pause during music playback, answers or rejects an incoming call, or triggers voice-dialing when held down for two seconds. The regular 0000 Bluetooth PIN is used, and we were readily able to hook up the SB1 headphones to a number of different test devices. Each earpiece extends out by around an inch, and the flexible headband – which is rubber coated on the inner surface – is sufficiently tight in its grip that even when jogging we didn’t feel the headphones would fall off. We wouldn’t argue with a little extra padding on the earpieces, though, since it’s your ears they’re gripping to stay on your head. Once you’re familiar with the button layout, they fall easily to hand and don’t require too firm or precise a jab in order to press.
Audio quality is decent, given the constraints of Bluetooth technology with surprising amounts of bass and only relatively muddy mid-ranges and slightly underwhelming treble to contend with; we always prefer more high-fidelity options like Kleer, but there’s no arguing with the flexibility of use that Bluetooth brings. Even Apple now support A2DP in various iPhone and iPod touch models, though since they don’t comply with the AVRCP profile you won’t be able to use the track skip and play/pause controls to remotely operate your Apple PMP. The same functionality worked with no problems on a number of cellphones, however, and the SB1 headset paused media playback on an incoming call. Our one criticism would be on outgoing audio quality, which seems particularly susceptible to background noise. We wish Jaybird had implemented one of the DSP noise cancellation systems found on some of the newer mono Bluetooth headsets we’ve tested lately, seeing as their own “Clear Voice Capture” doesn’t hold up to that competition, but given those earpieces generally cost more than the SB1’s $89 price tag we can’t complain too much. Those other headsets don’t get a lifetime sweat guarantee, either, something Jaybird are confident enough in the SB1’s to offer; in fact, they even say you can run in the rain without problems. Bluetooth range is quoted at 10m, and as is typical for the technology we found it’s pretty dependent on where your PMP is. Trying to make a connection with your body in the way can lead to occasionally patchy audio, but it’s not so fickle as other headphones we’ve tried. Jaybird’s obvious rival is the Jabra HALO, which we reviewed back in September last year. At $129, the HALO headphones are almost 50-percent more expensive than the SB1’s, and while the Jabra controls – which are all touch sensitive – are certainly discrete, the tactile buttons on the Jaybird are arguably easier to use. There’s no wired option (for when the battery runs out) on the Jaybirds, but the SB1’s talktime rating is higher: 11hrs compared to the HALO’s 8hrs. Practically, we found the SB1’s good for over 8hrs of solid stereo audio, particularly handy when paired with a laptop for watching video. Jaybird also make a reasonably big deal of the SB1’s Skype and VoIP compatibility, though we wish you could fold them down to more easily slot into a laptop bag. Still, $89 (or cheaper if you shop around online) is an impressively low price, and the Jaybird’s styling doesn’t instantly mark you out as a complete geek. Those looking for pristine audio quality already know to stay away from Bluetooth, but users looking for gym-friendly, sturdy and affordable headphones – with a fair bass kick to them – should definitely take a look at the Jaybird SB1 Sportsband Bluetooth Headphones. Relevant Entries on SlashGear
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