Bluetooth

One of the greatest threats to our personal welfare in the digital age is the theft of our key life-enhancing devices – while a stolen bag, camera, or wallet can be replaced at significant heartache and expense, a laptop might contain the keys to your banks accounts, employer's intranet, or your identity. Now there’s an ingenious anti-theft device which sets a user-defined protection radius of between one and 30 meters around the mobile phone in your pocket using Bluetooth functionality. The credit-card-sized, EUR60 Secu4 Blue Watchdog is so useful it just might generate killer app adoption levels for protecting your valuables, luggage, and perhaps even your children when you’re on the go. Check out our video of the new product. Read More

To maximize portability, mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad eschew the traditional keyboard for on-screen versions. While on-screen keyboards may be tolerable for typing the odd text message or entering a few words into a search engine, their shortcomings quickly become obvious. With mobile devices now packing processors powerful enough to handle word processing and other more intensive tasks there is a market for physical keyboards to turn an iPad or even a smartphone into an ultraportable computer. One of the better solutions we’ve seen to fit this bill is the newly announced Jorno Bluetooth keyboard from Cervantes Mobile. Read More

It's only been a few weeks since Ricoh unveiled its G700 rugged camera and already the next phase in its evolution has been revealed. The new G700SE retains much of the feature set of the earlier model – including the 12.1 megapixel sensor, wide-angle zoom lens and 720p high definition movie capability – but adds Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functionality to the mix. It's also water and dust resistant and able to withstand the odd rough bump. The new camera also caters for the addition of optional units to provide GPS and laser barcode reader functionality. Read More

Native Union's first product, which was basically a classic 1950s Bakelite telephone handset with a cord that plugged into a mobile phone, was an expensive piece of fairy floss, a visual joke which soon stopped being funny. The company's premise for selling it as an anti-radiation device was as thin as the phone's value proposition and when I found that was all the company produced, I feared for its future. It's taken them four models to create something genuinely useful, beautiful and clever, but the new Moshi Moshi 04 is worthy piece of kit indeed, even at its premium price of GBP150! Read More

Motorola has launched three new "mission critical" communications devices aimed at law enforcement and first responder applications. The MVX1000 in-car digital video system and APX P25 two-way radio series are joined by the company's first encrypted Bluetooth earpiece designed for secure communications. Read More

Although most new Bluetooth compatibility is still centered on version 2.1 +EDR, which was formally adopted way back on July 26, 2007, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has announced the formal adoption of Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0. The hallmark feature of the new specification is its low energy technology that should open up entirely new markets for devices requiring low power wireless connectivity. Read More

As some readers may recall, back in April a certain prototype iPhone was “forgotten” in a bar, and ended up being prematurely splashed all over the Internet. Well, that whole nasty business would likely never have happened, if only that phone’s owner had been using a Bringrr. A little device that plugs into your car’s power outlet/cigarette lighter, the Bringrr gets paired up with your cell phone, then searches for that phone whenever the car is started. If it makes a connection, meaning that the phone is in the car, it will flash blue and emit a confirming beep. If it can’t find the phone, however, it will flash red and emit a tone that pretty much says, “Hey Dummy, you forgot your phone.” Read More

When it comes to red-blooded boys toys, Husqvarna's latest demolition robot takes the cake. Husqvarna is in the process of releasing a series of new remote-control demolition robots, beginning with the introduction of the 22 kW DXR310 weighing 1900 kg in late 2009, followed by the smaller 1620 kg DXR 250 in January. The 250 comes standard with 18.5 kilowatts, but there is also a 22 kW option. Now comes the diminutive 960 kg DXR 140 which can be optioned up to 15 kW, yet is only 77 cm wide, meaning it can pass through most doorways, fits in a lift or on a standard trailer or on the back of a utility… and the easy-to-use Bluetooth remote control makes it an absolute breeze to smash just about anything you can think of. Read More

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has unveiled more information about its forthcoming Bluetooth Core Specification 4.0 that is expected to start appearing in devices late this year or early in 2011. Central to the new spec, which will replace the Bluetooth v3.0 + HS standard that was officially adopted on April 21, 2009, is a low energy mode designed to enable the expansion of Bluetooth technology into a range of low power devices, such as watches, remote controls, and a variety of medical and in-home sensors. Read More