Bluetooth

Samsung GSM Handsets Offer MP3 Wireless Streaming
Just like the Smash aliens falling over laughing at the sight of humans mashing potatoes, one day people may look back in amazement that people used to walk around the streets with bits of wire hanging from their lug’oles.
Although Bluetooth headsets are OK for taking calls, what people really want is to be able to wirelessly listen to their sounds as they strut about the streets as well – something that Samsung reckon will be possible with their new SGH-E750 and SGH-E760 handsets.
Both tri-band handsets follow Samsung’s well-established clamshell design, with a 1.3 Megapixel camera onboard as well as new functions like a digital compass and gesture recognition for mobile gaming.
The SGH-E750 camera also comes with an integrated flash, with the SGH-E760 including a “digital power amp” and twin speakers for enhanced audio.
Using CSR’s BlueCore3-ROM (BC3-ROM) and proprietary BlueCore Host Software (BCHS) – whatever they are – Samsung’s phones can wirelessly stream MP3 music via Bluetooth to the latest Bluetooth stereo headsets, like their very own SBH100.
Apparently, the BlueCore3-ROM thingy is currently the only Bluetooth technology offering native MP3 support, thanks to its internal CODEC, software and DSP.
Samsung say that MP3 music streams offer better audio quality and require lower data transfer rates than the Sub Band Coding (SBC) format used by other Bluetooth silicon vendors.
Just in case you haven’t had enough acronyms yet, we can tell you that the handsets employ A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) and AVRCP (Audio Visual Remote Control Profile) to support music streaming and hands-free call handling from Bluetooth stereo headsets.
The integrated BlueCore Host Software helps reduce the power consumption of the Bluetooth device by implementing all of the Bluetooth lower power modes such as deep sleep, letting uses take full advantage of all handset features without draining battery life.
Matthew Phillips, VP Asia commented, “GSM accounts for more than 2/3 of the world’s mobile telecommunications industry and consumers are increasingly demanding access to the latest developments in technology.”
“Listening to music with a wireless headset has always been popular with consumers using proprietary technologies for home cinema. As phones now support MP3 music playback, we have brought that flexibility to the mobile phone industry using the universal Bluetooth standard,” he added.
The SGH-E750 and SGH-E760 handsets are expected to be available on GSM networks worldwide in Q4 2005.
Samsung
12 October, 2005
V3x: Motorola’s 3G RAZR: More Details
Motorola have offered more details about their forthcoming 3G RAZR V3x slim flip phone.
Surprisingly not as slender as the hugely popular original RAZR, the new V3x packs in dual cameras, a hefty two megapixel camera with an 8x zoom and macro mode for photography, and a VGA camera for 2-way video calling.
The sleek housing has fattened up a bit to accommodate the 3G gubbins, and comes with two vivid colour displays.
The onboard Bluetooth chip supports wireless stereo sound through Motorola’s Bluetooth Stereo headphones and other compatible hands free wotsits, with up to 512 MB of removable optional TransFlash memory.
There’s support for playback of AAC+, MPEG4, WMV, WMA, MP3 and Real Video/Audio media files, with progressive downloading to view media files on demand.
The handset will include a new service called SCREEN3 giving users “zero-click access” to news, sports, entertainment, and other premium content on the go, providing a handy source of revenue for mobile operators.
Motorola have also included an advanced speaker-independent voice recognition which lets users state a number/name and be connected without all that pre-recording palaver.
The Motorola RAZR V3x is expected to be available in Q4 2005 with pricing to be announced around that time.
Meanwhile, as Motorola’s phones scoff the pies, rival NEC has launched the World’s Thinnest Folding Camera Phone, a feather-untoubling slip of a thing.
Motorola
28 September, 2005
Blackberry 8700 Details Emerge As RIM Announce Intel Deal
We’re still waiting for the official announcement, but Blackberry enthusiast site Pimstack has managed to unearth some photos and specs of the forthcoming Blackberry 8700.
Expected to be released around December/January, the matt-black and silver smartphone looks sure to appeal to blokes who like their technology beefy, manly and without a girly curve in sight.
Thinner and narrower than the 7200 series, the Darth Vader-esque case sports “high-end ornamental accents” (huh?) with a large 320 x 240 (1/4 VGA) colour LCD screen and a light sensor to automatically adjust brightness.
Below the screen is a full QWERTY keypad with dedicated Send & End Keys, a mute key and two User-Definable Keys.
Connectivity is taken care of via quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity with onboard support for Bluetooth 2.0. There’s also a hands-free speaker phone built in.
Powering up the Blackberry is a 312 MHz processor, with 16MB RAM and 64MB ROM built in.
Research in Motion (RIM) are claiming that their updated OS will offer an improved user interface and better performance across the board, so users can look forward to nippier navigation, faster web browsing and speedier programs.
The new phone (codenamed Electron) will also provide contact-specific ring tones, better support for viewing attachments and Enhanced Power Point slide viewing.
RIM Announce Intel Partnership
Elsewhere, RIM have announced that they will be using Intel’s XScale PXA9xx mobile phone processors in upcoming BlackBerry devices.
The Intel processor, with the strange codename of “Hermon”, will run on Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution networks (EDGE).
This technology lets users connect to the Internet and send and receive data at broadband comparable speeds.
The chip is also expected to support video conferencing, which suggests that there’s 3G support going on.
RIM’s co-chief executive, Mike Lazaridis, commented that the next-generation BlackBerries would boast increased browser speeds and help the company push into new markets, while predicting that the new platform would also appeal to third-party application developers.
Research In Motion (RIM)
Pinstack
28 September, 2005
BLINK: Bluetooth Simplicity From Broadcom?
If you’ve ever spent hours shouting at the little blinking blue light on your laptop screaming, “what do you mean you can’t find my phone? IT’S THERE!!”, then you may find Broadcom’s new BLINK Bluetooth software (Bluetooth-Link = BLINK, getit?) bringing your blood pressure down.
Claiming to “radically simplify Bluetooth connectivity between cell phones and PCs”, the software is the result of a collaboration between Broadcom and BVRP Software International (now Avanquest Software), and has already adopted by networking retailers such as Anycom and IO GEAR, as well as a ton of Bluetooth dongle manufacturers.
Although Bluetooth-enabled phones continue to grow in popularity, many people are put off using the functionality because of problems getting some devices to talk to each other.
BLINK software claims to soothe the troubled brows of baffled Bluetooth uses with an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) that makes complex Bluetooth-related tasks “as simple as browsing the Internet.”
“This software simplifies the use of Bluetooth technology to such an extent that we anticipate ‘BLINK’ to become synonymous with Bluetooth when connecting phones and PCs using products based on our technology,” said Scott Bibaud, Senior Director of Marketing for Broadcom’s Bluetooth products.
Beaming with confidence, Scott continued, “Once users discover the convenience of ‘BLINKing’ files and data between their phones and PCs, the true power of Bluetooth will become clearer to the millions of consumers that already have the technology built into their phones.”
Once fired up, the BLINK software serves up a graphical representation of the user’s mobile phone on their desktop or notebook PC screens.
Once connected, users can operate all the main phone functions directly from the computer, and drag and drop items from their PCs directly to their cell phones.
Via the BLINK interface, users can update and synchronise phone numbers, contact information and calendars as well as transfer pictures, music and data.
The Internet can also be accessed on the desktop via any GPRS/EDGE/CDMA cellular data links and SMS messages can be sent and received.
“Digital photos, phone numbers and calendar appointments are literally trapped inside users’ cell phones because of the complexity involved in transferring this information to PCs and other devices,” said Brian O’Rourke, Senior Analyst at In-Stat.
“Broadcom’s leading work in Bluetooth software will not only lead to greater penetration of Bluetooth hardware in a number of applications, it will also make it easier to use for these advanced tasks,” he added.
Broadcom will be shoving a copy of the software into our grubby hands shortly so check back soon.
Broadcom
27 September, 2005
Windows Based Palm Treo On The Way
To the sound of a thousand wailing Palm Pilots, Palm has unveiled a version of the classic Treo smartphone running on Windows Mobile 5.0.
Possibly called the Treo 700w (or maybe the Treo 670 – details are scarce!), the new phone will initially only be available from Verizon Wireless, running on the carrier’s EV-DO broadband network.
A series of ‘first look’ photos on Engadget shows the new Treo to be slightly narrower than the Treo 650, but at the cost of what looks like a smaller 240×240 pixel display, instead of the usual 320×320.
Confirmed specs include Windows Mobile 5.0, a one megapixel camera, EV-DO, Bluetooth and 64MB of memory.
Palm users still waiting for the Wi-Fi card categorically promised at the Treo 650 UK launch in April will be mightily miffed to learn that a SD Wi-Fi card worked straight out of the box with the Windows Treo – a classic example perhaps of why people are leaving the Palm OS.
Formerly bitter rivals, Palm and Microsoft’s collaboration looks to add the security and functionality of Microsoft’s new Window Mobile 5.0 OS to the solid and well-respected Palm Treo 600/650 range.
Palm president and CEO Ed Colligan called the Windows Treo an “historic” product, adding, “We’ve long believed that the future of personal computing is mobile computing, and our collaboration with Microsoft is an historic step in delivering that vision to a larger market.”
Already, pundits are suggesting that the introduction of the Windows Treo marks the end of the Palm OS Platform, still reeling from the withdrawal of the technically groundbreaking Sony Clie range.
Carmi Levy, Senior Research Analyst at Info-Tech Research Group commented that the new Treo signals a massive shift in the handheld/smartphone market, adding that “when viewed in conjunction with the sale of PalmSource earlier this month, it’s an acceleration in the demise of the Palm OS platform and final confirmation that its once-dominant position in the broader handheld market is gone for good.
“As popular as Palm has traditionally been with end-users, it has always been a marginal corporate player,” continued Levy.
The Palm OS has traditionally lacked robust corporate security features, making the Windows Mobile platform more attractive to corporate IT departments.
What Microsoft has lacked, however, is a killer piece of hardware, something they’re likely to now have with a Windows Mobile-based Treo.
There’s been no release date set for the Windows-based Treo yet, but it is expected to be available “very early” in 2006.
Palm plans to bring the Windows Treo to other wireless carriers in the second half of 2006, including GSM/GPRS carriers in Europe and Asia.
Treo
Engadget Treo pics
27 September, 2005
Bluetooth Billboards To Bother Bystanders
Bluetooth enabled billboards may soon be bothering passers-by with wireless advertisements blasted to mobile phones, according to the New Scientist magazine.
The brainchild of Alasdair Scott, co-founder and chief creative officer of London-based Filter UK, the ‘BlueCasting’ system will send a message to Bluetooth enabled phones strolling within 100 metres of a wired-up advert.
If the user has their Bluetooth turned on, they’ll be pestered by an invitation to download a pile of digital content related to the advertised product.
Anyone bonkers enough to actually agree to this can look forward to having their phone bombarded with video ads, discount vouchers, animations, music, still images and other advertising guff.
Trials took place recently at six London railway stations in partnership with the advertising company Maiden Group, with Bluetooth-equipped posters offering to beam promotional material and song clips from Coldplay’s new album to passers-by.
Over the space of two weeks, 87,000 Bluetooth phones were recorded ambling past and – amazingly – 17% of those were willing to download the clip.
Although such a high take-up figure is sure to moisten gussets in advertising boardrooms, we reckon it’s more to do with the novelty factor and the fact that the test billboards offered popular mainstream content.
Had they been offering people the chance to download dire advertisements like ESURE’s insurance toe-curler (punchline: “calm down dear, it’s only a commercial!”) we confidently predict that the take up would have been closer to 0%.
Now on to the science bit: The system uses proximity-based broadcasting courtesy of a directional Bluetooth transmitter lurking behind the billboard.
This beams the adverts to anyone within 100m of the billboard with Simon O’Regan, Filter UK’s Technical Officer insisting that, “only people who can see the billboard are offered the additional promotion.”
The Maiden Group are currently installing transmitters on its billboards at 30 U.K. train stations over the next 18 months, and plans to extend the service to large shopping malls, with Filter getting ready to pester harassed passengers with their own sites at Heathrow.
It looks like consumers won’t be able to escape being bothered by requests to download material from Bluetooth adverts as there’s currently no UK regulations restricting the use of Bluetooth ads being sent to mobile phones (short of users being forced to turn off the Bluetooth ‘discoverable’ functionality)
However, the advertising still comes under the jurisdiction of the Advertising Standards Authority who have voiced concerns that adverts for 18-rated computer games may be blasted at under age kids.
Mind you, we imagine ne’er do wells are going to love the BlueCasting system, with the area around Bluetooth enabled posters turning into a virtual shopping mall for mobile phone purloiners.
Bluecasting
Filter UK
26 August, 2005
MX 5000: Logitech Announces Cordless Desktop Laser Keyboard
It could be argued that a keyboard’s beauty lies in its simple elegance. No flashing lights, no blinking screens, no whirring eye candy, just several rows of dumb keys obediently awaiting your input.
Simple. Classic.
Boring.
Clear your desks for Logitech’s new Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser keyboard – a futuristic, gadget-tastic affair that will makes your current keyboard look more at home in a Stone Age cave.
The Bluetooth keyboard features a built-in LCD which can display a ton of useful (and not-so-useful) information including e-mail and instant message notifications, favourite playlists and Internet radio stations.
Ever found yourself typing an email to your Gran and wondering what the ambient temperature of the room was? No problem – the MX 5000’s got a built in room temperature readout.
For MP3 junkies, there’s one-touch access to music playlists from popular player like iTunes, Windows Media Player and Musicmatch, with keyboard bashers also able to access and launch categories and themes of music through Musicmatch’s Internet radio stations.
The keyboard LCD screen provides instant notification of new e-mail and instant messages and there’s also a humble calculator included, but this one’s got a clever twist, with calculation results automatically being saved to the computer’s clipboard. Neat.
Naturally, if you want indicators, the MX 5000’s got ’em, with the LCD screen keeping users informed about the vital status of the caps lock and F lock keys, volume levels and mute.
The MX5000 reflects the trend which sees dumb-as-a-rock keyboards slowly turning into smartypants devices, capable of both sending and receiving info from the computer and, in this case, even acting as a Bluetooth 2.0 Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) wireless hub.
“Logitech introduced the world’s first mouse-and-keyboard combination in 1998 with the goal of removing cord clutter from the desk,” gushed Denis Pavillard, Logitech vice president of product marketing for desktops.
“We succeeded in delivering on that vision, and we are now addressing a different kind of clutter – cleaning up the mess of notifications and information that are displayed on the computer monitor.”
“The Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser desktop pushes that information to a peripheral screen so that people can choose when to glance at their notifications and status information, and can therefore clear their monitors — and their minds,” he added.
The Cordless Desktop MX 5000 package comes with Logitech’s MX1000 Cordless Laser Mouse, a laser powered chappie in a matching blue-slate/black finish.
Of course, the more functionality you squeeze into a keyboard, the greater the power needs, and Logitech have included a smart power-management solution which seems to comprise of a decidedly low tech on/off switch on the keyboard and an integrated battery indicator light.
We could have used one of them for our Logitech MX700 mouse which promptly ran out of juice half way through writing this review and is now pointlessly blinking away in its recharging dock.
The Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser will be available in October in the U.S. and Europe with a suggested retail price of £119.99 (€176) in Europe ($149.99 US).
Logitech
16 August, 2005
HTC To Build Windows-Based Palm Treo 670/700?
HTC are rumoured to have won the contract to manufacture the much-hyped Windows Mobile-based version of Palm’s Treo smart phone.
The combination of Windows OS and the Treo’s fabulous form factor could prove a real market winner, although the device’s release is believed to some way off.
An article in the DigiTimes Website reported that the Treo/HTC hybrid was announced in the Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial Times.
The Taiwan-based High Tech Computer (HTC) firm already manufactures its own popular suite of Windows Mobile-based smart phones and PDA-style communicators, which go under a mass of different names worldwide, depending on the mobile networks operators and handset vendors.
Their big-selling models include the XDA Mini (MDA Compact/ HTC Magician/ i-mate JAM/Qtek s100), XDASII (Qtek 2020/i-mate/Orange SPV M1000/Movistar tsm 500) and XDAIIs (MdaIII/iMate PDA2k/Qtek 9090/HTC Blue Angel/Audiovox 6600/Siemens SX66/Orange SPV M2000).
HTC also undertakes contract manufacturing on behalf of a number of partners, and was said to be producing the Palm OS-based Treo 650 back in September 2004.
Rumours quickly spread that HTC would be creating a Windows Mobile-based Treo called the Treo 670, with a host of fuzzy images purporting to be the new device appearing on the Web.
Both Palm and HTC have staunchly refused to confirm their collaboration.
There’s no denying that HTC would be a logical choice to create a Windows Mobile-based Treo, with some pundits suggesting that the company may have lent some Windows Mobile development expertise to Palm’s design team.
The Commercial Times article suggests that HTC may well have designed the 670 itself, working to the parameters of the standard Treo feature-set and case design.
Just as we went to press, another rumour flashed across the Web, with Cool Tech Times showing a fairly convincing photograph of what it reckons is the new Treo 700.
Naturally, large opencast excavations of salt are needed when it comes to these things, but for the record the site claims that the Treo will feature a 1.3 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom and EVDO capability (EVDO stands for Evolution Data Only, and is the wireless broadband protocol of choice for CDMA networks).
Although the design could have come straight off the screen of some time-rich spoddy Photoshop kid (and we definitely have some doubts about its authenticity), it’s still a pretty looking affair, reflecting the strong points of the Treo’s long standing design ethos.
Whatever the final Treo looks like, it’s only Palm’s hopeless feet-dragging over implementing consumer-demanded features like proper Wi-Fi support that reluctantly sent us to the Windows dark side a few months ago, so whenever the next Treo 670/700/whatever-you-want-to call-it ever surfaces, we’ll take a boxful please!
DigiTimes.com
12 August, 2005
Oakley and Motorola launch RAZRWIRE Bluetooth Sunglasses
Put two cool branded products together – Motorola mobiles and Oakley sunglasses – and what do you get?
A pair of daft glasses more likely to bring forth guffaws of laughter rather then the intended gasps of admiration, that’s what.
Oakley’s new RAZRWIRE sunspecs feature a bolted on Bluetooth module which converges the sun-filtering UV-free lifestyle experience with, err, a phone.
Cos Lykos, vice president of business development at Oakley, set off several Hyperbole Alerts as he gushed wildly about the product: “RAZRWIRE’s fully integrated design takes advantage of the world’s best eyewear and wireless technologies to give freedom of life, movement and communication anywhere and everywhere you want to be, so now seeing and hearing is believing.”
If you’re excited by the prospect of wandering about talking into your sunglasses looking like an arse, we can report that RAZRWIRE specs includes a Motorola Bluetooth module, supporting Bluetooth 1.1 and 1.2, with a range or 30 feet (10 metres).
The Bluetooth box clamps on to one of the arms of the sunglasses and sports volume controls and an answer button on its lower edge.
You’ll also be able to impress people by saying that you have to go off and charge your sunglasses, via the included wall charger or a USB port, with the device offering five hours talk time and 100 hours standby time.
The sunglasses are fashioned from Oakley’s super light O-Luminum and XYZ Optics, and will be available in early August in Cingular Wireless stores, and online at Oakley, Motorola, and Cingular’s websites for US$294.99 (~£170, ~€246).
Users in the habit of regularly sitting on their sunglasses in the pub are advised to avoid this product.
Our verdict: As cool as a heatwave!
Motorola and Oakley Announce Launch of RAZRWIRE With Cingular Wireless
26 July, 2005
Motorola’s Q RAZR Smartphone Guns For Blackberry / Treo
Billed as the “thinnest, lightest, coolest QWERTY on the Planet”, the new Q phone from Motorola has set a few hearts pounding in Chez Digi-Lifestyles.
Claimed to be fifty percent thinner than its top competitors, the lightweight Q is based on Motorola’s successful RAZR-thin design and offers a full QWERTY keyboard, electro-luminescent keys, one-handed navigation thumbwheel and an internal antenna.
The device sports a large high-resolution display (320 x 240 pixels, 65K TFT) with a l.3 mega pixel still/video camera (with photo lighting) onboard, and the whole caboodle is powered by the new Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system.
The Moto Q comes stuffed with multimedia support, playing back iMelody, MIDI, MP3, AAC, WAV, WMA, WAX, QCELP audio files, GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, WBMP, BMP, PNG photo files and supports H.263, MPEG-4, GSM-AMR, AAC, WMV video formats.
There’s a Mini-SD slot provided for extra storage and connectivity is taken care of via Bluetooth, IrDA and mini-USB.
High flying execs too busy to even touch their Moto will appreciate the voice-activated dialling, hands-free multi-tasking, speakerphone and built-in support for Microsoft Exchange 2003.
Ron Garriques, president mobile devices business, Motorola wasn’t one to hold back the hysterical hyperbole: “Wickedly cool – when’s the last time you heard those words used to describe a QWERTY device?”
“Probably never. At least until now.”
“With the Moto Q, we’ve combined the best voice, data and design technology in one ultra-thin, intelligent, hard-working, and incredibly must-have device. Today’s office space has the potential to be any place you want it to be with Q.”
Err, thanks for that Ron. But we won’t be calling a QWERTY device “wickedly cool” until it comes with built in Wi-Fi.
The Moto Q is expected to be available in Q1 2006.
Although it’s clearly trying to get a piece of the lucrative Blackberry market, we reckon the collars will be getting sweatiest around the Palm Treo boardroom.
And that’s not a very pleasant thought.
Moto Q phone
26 July, 2005