bluetooth

Most phones sold these days have a speakerphone mode. This setting is usually good enough for an impromptu hands-free call in a quiet office. However, when you get on the road in a noisy car, the phone's flaws are made apparent. For example, the built-in microphone can be less than ideal for canceling the levels of road and wind noise present in a car at highway speed, which leads to poor quality on the receiving end of your calls. I'm sure that you dislike repeating yourself to callers as much as I do, so let's look at how to improve call quality.

Visor-mounted Bluetooth speakerphones feature more sophisticated microphones with noise and echo-cancellation technology located closer to your head, which can dramatically improve sound quality. How much of an improvement should you expect? I've recorded outbound calls from five speakerphones (and my test phone's internal microphone) to demonstrate. … Read more

Car technology: it's a bit of a double-edged sword. With one edge, it can be harmful, creating a distraction to drivers. The 15-year-old Antuan had a hard-enough time operating a CD player while driving without running into everything in town. Young drivers today are expected to deal with browsing MP3 catalogs, navigation, touch screens, and incoming calls, and that's just the tip of the tech iceberg. And they must do this while resisting the siren call of texting, tweeting, and Facebook.

With its other edge, however, cabin technology can actually cut through distraction and make the vehicle safer … Read more

O-shaped speakers are apparently in fashion these days. I recently reviewed Philips' SoundRing and now I notice Iriver is about to release its Sound Donut here in the U.S.

The speaker comes in a chocolate flavor, as well as a version that's a bit chocolate and mostly vanilla. As you might have already guessed, this is a Bluetooth speaker and it has a built-in microphone for making cell phone calls.… Read more

Last month, CNET reported that Apple was granted a patent for a steering-wheel remote, a clever-sounding gizmo that would allow drivers to control audio playback without having to look at or interact with their iPhones.

Of course, who knows if or when this product will see the light of day. Fortunately, there's another one that already has: the Satechi BT Media Remote. I've spent the last couple days test-driving one, and I've arrived at this conclusion: Best. Accessory. Ever!

OK, maybe I'm a little overenthusiastic about a Bluetooth remote, but it solves exactly the problem described … Read more

Since the beginning of the year, Broadcom has been the only provider of 802.11ac chips, which it calls 5G Wi-Fi, made to power routers, such as the Buffalo AirStation WZR-D1800H and other Wi-Fi clients. The playing field has changed a little now with Marvell announcing today a chip of its own, the Avastar 88W8897.

Marvell's new chip is slightly different from those offered by Broadcom. First of all, the Avastar 88W8897 combines 802.11ac, Near Field Communication (NFC), and Bluetooth in one die, providing more options for mobile devices. Secondly, this chip offers 802.11ac in the 2-by-2 (… Read more

Features like Bluetooth audio add value to products, so they raise the price of BT-equipped gear. I don't have a problem with that, but I'm surprised how much sound quality people are willing to give up just to have wireless audio.

Cheap Bluetooth add-ons like the $25 Belkin Bluetooth Music Receiver or the $40 Logitech Wireless Speaker Adapter can stream tunes from a smartphone, iPod Touch, iPad, or other tablets sans wires. That's nice, but the processing sounds awful -- gritty harsh, limits bass oomph, and has unpleasant treble -- compared with just running a wire to … Read more

Apple has filed a patent application detailing a better process for encoding and transmitting data over Bluetooth.

The patent application, uncovered by AppleInsider, was refiled back in February as a continuation of a December 2008 patent application and shows Apple's continued commitment to get the best performance from its mobile, battery-powered devices.

"Data Format Conversion for Electronic Devices" seeks to improve your iDevice's battery by simplifying the data conversion process that occurs when sending information to other devices via Bluetooth connections.

Data sent over a Bluetooth connection must be compressed due to limited transmission capacity of … Read more

I love a good Bluetooth speaker -- especially when it comes with a kick-ass bonus.

For a limited time, Amazon has the Logitech Wireless Boombox for $109.99 shipped. And with that you get a $50 Amazon MP3 credit.

Update: Amazon is currently sold out of the Wireless Boombox, though it's still available via CircuitCity for the same price -- just without the $50 credit. Bummer!

The Wireless Boombox sports eight speakers for some reasonably powerful portable audio. And by portable I mean it has a rechargeable battery that Logitech says is good for up to six hours.

Although … Read more

Meet the new Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K760, the successor to Logitech's first solar keyboard, the K750, which earned a CNET Editors' Choice.

From a design standpoint, the K760 is more compact than the K750 and more closely resembles Apple's own Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard with the addition of the strip of solar cells at the top of the unit.

The key feature upgrade here is something that Logitech calls "Bluetooth connectivity with easy-switching capability." What that means is you can pair multiple devices -- such as a Mac, iPad, or iPhone -- and quickly switch among … Read more