Bluetooth

Recon Instruments and Contour have announced a new app that will let skiers and snowboarders look through the lens of their action cam right inside their goggles. The Contour Camera Connectivity App establishes a Bluetooth connection between Recon's MOD Live goggle display and the camera. Read More

While insufficient battery-life can be annoying in most mobile devices, getting cut off from the outside world because your radio has run out of juice can be much more serious. This is why Eton has been producing various devices powered by hand-turbines and solar panels for some time now. Today’s CES Unveiled saw Eton demonstrating its latest FRX line of self-powered radios that come in three flavors – the FRX 3 and FRX 2, which both sport a solar panel and hand turbine, and the FRX 1, which features just the hand-turbine. Also on show was Eton’s new Rukus portable Bluetooth sound system, which comes in battery- and solar-powered versions. Read More

From iDevices, the iPeople behind the iGrill, comes iShower - a battery-powered, Bluetooth-enabled, water-resistant speaker for what its makers charmingly refer to as "aqua-centric environments." The iShower can stream music from any Bluetooth-enabled Apple or Android device, apparently to an impressive range of up to 200 feet (60 meters). Well iNever. Read More

Contrary to celluloid legend, Marty McFly did not invent the skateboard in 1955. Street surfing actually originated a little later and has gone from a few home brewers mounting some roller skate wheels onto the underside of a plywood board to an international sport which challenges both the creative ingenuity and physical capabilities of its participants. The design and structure of board and components have improved greatly over the years, but there appears to have been little headway in feeding back vital performance data to riders. Designer and manufacturer of military grade tracking technologies Edgetrak and performance board producer wefunk have now joined forces to fill the void. The newly-formed Stealth Division has just put the finishing touches to a new operational prototype longboard called the Mach1, the first deck in the world to feature built-in telemetrics. Read More

Sure you've seen Siri work her voice recognition magic on an iPhone 4S, but how about on an older rotary telephone? Davis Remmel took a Bluetooth headset and retro-fitted a rotary telephone to have Siri work as an operator of sorts, catering to your questions and placing phone calls by dialing 1 on the phone. Read More

Researchers from Keio University in Tokyo created glasses designed to augment the wearer's experience by providing additional audio and olfactory stimuli during social encounters. Fitted with speakers and scent emitters, the spectacles emit sound and smell signals unique to the person you meet. This eyewear is clearly more than just a fashion accessory. Rather, in the words of its makers, it is an attempt to encourage face-to-face communication with emotional and memorable sound and smell experiences. Read More

While “toy” robots such as WowWee’s Robosapien already have some pretty impressive capabilities, they can now do even more ... if they have a Brainlink module installed. Brainlink is made by BirdBrain Technologies, which is a Carnegie Mellon University spin-off company. When attached to an existing infrared remote-controlled household robot, it will add a built-in light sensor and accelerometer to that device’s quiver, along with the possibility of various other user-supplied sensors that can be plugged into its input ports. The Bluetooth-equipped Brainlink also allows robots to be controlled via the user’s laptop or Android smartphone, which opens up all sorts of possibilities. Read More

Bluetooth speakers are not particularly complex devices in terms of operation - you just pair them with a Bluetooth-enabled device, adjust the volume and enjoy the sound. However, a duo of industrial designers have created the Hidden Radio And Bluetooth Speaker in an attempt to make it even simpler and more intuitive. The unit is also claimed to offer an impressive 30 hours of battery life. Read More

We've already seen rearview mirrors from the likes of Ford, Toyota and Mazda that display the vision from rear-mounted cameras, along with a GPS-enabled rearview mirror that includes a 4-inch touchscreen and Bluetooth. Now Hong Kong-based gadget wholesalers Chinavasion has started selling a kit that replaces any standard rearview mirror with a GPS and Bluetooth 2.1 enabled unit featuring a 4.3-inch touchscreen for multimedia playback and even playing touchscreen games (seriously), while DVR capabilities let you record what goes on inside and outside the car. Read More