Articles tagged with: headsets

The danger of Bluetooth headsets is that passers-by might not spot them and may assume you're randomly jabbering at them or worse, to yourself. Flying in the face of this danger, and at the risk of sounding like a Bodyform advert, Celleden has released a headset so discrete, even you may not notice you're wearing it.

Barely bigger than a piece of loose coinage, as the photo attests, it weighs in at a measly 6.5g. yet manages 4hrs talktime and 50hrs stand-by - all topped up by its handy charging stand.

The press release proclaims that: "users can rest assured that wearing one will not damage their street cred!" For those of us who any to damage, that is.

It's available now in black or white for £29.99 from twistedcarbon.com and 'selected' high street stores.

Looks like Aliph's cooking up another industrial design beauty to succeed its high-styled, hi-tech headset, the Jawbone. Aptly named the Jawbone 2, it's just been spotted going through its FCC inspection ahead of launch in the US.

From the photos and details submitted it looks to have lost none of its industrial chic but does appear to have lost a good deal of its bulk, judging by the handy ruler shown. We're liking the striking new redesign. Hopefully it'll sound just as good as the original, too.

[Engadget]

Samsung calls this 'one' of the slimmest Bluetooth headsets in the world but having looked at the specs, we think there may be prizes for anyone finds one thinner. At just 5.9mm it's the Jacobs Cream Cracker of hi-tech ear-wear.

Not surprisingly, the WEP350 doesn't have the longest of battery lives, managing 100 hours on standby and five hours of talk time but it weighs a mere 7.1g and comes with its own charging stand to keep it topped up.

It's been announced alongside the 'premium' WEP700. Both should be arriving next month.

[Press release]

Not that handy when you're actually wearing it, Jabra's added a tiny LCD display to its latest BT4010 Bluetooth headset. Unveiled at CITA 2008 in Las Vegas today, it promises to be a cut-price headset with the added bonus of being able to check on battery level, connection status and call status with one glance of the screen.

It measures an ear-pleasing 51x17x28mm and weighs a mere 10g, with a healthy six hour talk time. Jabra has it down for $60 (£30) when it launches in the US this spring. A European launch is expected later.

[Phone Arena] 

If you’re looking for good stereo audio quality without the wires, then the Plantronics Voyager 855 stereo Bluetooth headset could be for you. While many mobile phones can play music, most come either with a mono hands-free headset or stereo headphones with pretty poor sound quality -- and often have proprietary connectors that prevent you from plugging in a better pair.

The Plantronics Voyager 855 may to be the ideal solution to this problem. It’s a Bluetooth stereo headset with an extra plug-in earbud, so you can keep one ear free for hands-free calls and switch to stereo when you’re listening to music.

The iPhone may be the perfect blend of smartphone and media player, but Apple managed to overlook one tiny but crucial detail - the headphone socket. Given that other smartphone manufacturers think it's acceptable to use 2.5mm jack plug sockets or even mini USB ports for their earphone connections, we suppose we should be thankful that iPhone has a standard 3.5mm socket at all.

But at the risk of looking a gift horse in the mouth, let's be honest -- as far as 3.5mm earphone sockets go, the one one the iPhone is next to useless. It's so deeply recessed into the case that it's impossible to plug in most earphones – the plastic surround of the plug is simply too wide.

The white Apple ones supplied in the box obviously fit, but they're decidedly mediocre and even if you do manage to find an acceptable pair that can be plugged in, they'll lack the in-line microphone that lets you make and take calls while you're wearing them.

Unless you’re Jason Bourne (or driving a vehicle, of course), hands-free kits for mobile phones make most people look like a bit of a dork, but a couple of new Bluetooth models look set to change all that. Stick the Invisio G5 or Jawbone in your ear while you're wandering around the supermarket and you're more likely to be mistaken for a member of the Secret Service than Locutus of Borg, but hi-tech good looks are least of their features.