Bluetooth

Altec Lansing has come to the rescue of music lovers who like the idea of streaming music wirelessly around the home, but can't afford to invest in systems from Olive or Sonos, or who don't want to be shackled to Apple Air or iOS devices. The inMotion Air universal wireless speaker can pump out any audio stored on a computer up to 333 feet away via an included adapter, while mobile devices can also supply the music via Bluetooth. Audio enhancement technology offers CD-quality performance, regardless of source compression encoding. Read More

The Contour HD is definitely one of the main players in the actioncam industry, although one of its limitations has always been its lack of a viewfinder. While it does have two lasers mounted on either side of the lens, that give a rough idea of what it’s pointing at, it’s never been possible to tell exactly what the recorded shot will look like. This can be kind of a big deal, particularly if users want to make sure that their surfboard, handlebars, paintball gun or whatnot gets far enough into the shot. At last week’s CES, however, the company unveiled a rather unique solution to the problem – instead of opting for an add-on viewfinder, like GoPro is developing, it has released a new camera that sends its picture to the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth. Like the Oregon Scientific ATC9K, the Contour GPS also embeds GPS data on its footage. Read More

When it comes to toys there is none more basic than the humble ball. Depictions of ball games have been found on ancient Egyptian monuments, while ball games were also popular among the ancient Greeks and Romans. This enduring popularity has seen ball games remain popular the world over to the present day. We’ve seen a number of products that have brought modern technology to balls, such as the sOccket and Speedsensor. The latest to join the list is Sphero – a ball that can be controlled with a smartphone via Bluetooth. Read More

Jawbone, a company better known for its Bluetooth headsets, has now released a Bluetooth speaker system that makes use of two powerful acoustic drivers and ultra-small speakers that work in concert with an innovative moving-wall passive bass radiator and airtight enclosure. The company says this is the first time this technology has been seen in a personal speaker system and delivers more punch than you'd expect from such a small unit. Read More

There’s no arguing that Apple’s Wireless Keyboard is a slim and sexy piece of kit – as far as keyboards go anyway. However, its svelte, bag friendly dimensions come at the cost of a numerical keypad. While such an omission is fine for some, it’s no good for the likes of accountants, mathematicians, numerologists and statisticians who are better served by the old USB extended keyboard. But it looks like even these users will be able to enjoy freedom from wires with the LMP Bluetooth Keypad. Read More

Sony has announced its first foray into the U.S. in-dash car navigation system market which sees it teaming up with TomTom. Joining Sony’s existing line of Xplod in-dash A/V units, the XNV-660BT boasts a 6.1-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, while the XNV-770BT ups the screen real estate to 7-inches. In addition to car navigation duties, both units feature CD/DVD playback, integrated Bluetooth, rear USB 1-wire connectivity for portable music players and support for multi-channel audio playback with virtual 5.1 channel surround sound capabilities. Read More

Looxcie (pronounced "look-see," get it?) is a small, lightweight, always-on, Bluetooth-enabled camcorder that links up with a smartphone app to offer users easy upload to social networking video sites. Slip it over the ear and switch on to begin documenting your life. When it's not recording everything in front of you, it can be used to take calls with a talk-time said to be around ten hours. Read More

For people who absolutely, positively have to have Facbook updates and tweets now and can’t even spare the time it takes to pull their mobile phone from their pocket or handbag, Sony Ericsson has unveiled its LiveView Android accessory. The compact device sports a form factor similar to the latest iPod nano and can be clipped to clothing or worn like a wristwatch just like Apple’s device. But LiveView offers extra functionality that effectively makes it a remote micro display and controller for a mobile phone. Read More

The rumors of a tablet from Research In Motion (RIM) have turned out to be true with CEO Mike Lazardis announcing the company’s PlayBook tablet at its annual BlackBerry Developer Conference. Described by RIM as a “professional-grade” tablet, the 7-inch device will be running the new BlackBerry Tablet OS created by the recently acquired QNX. It boasts BlackBerry integration, out-of-the-box BlackBerry Enterprise Server compatibility and security features designed to appeal to businesses as well as true multitasking, gaming and multimedia capabilities. Read More