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March 10th, 2008
03:47 pm - Like a psychic radio
Some time ago, in 2006 in fact, I discovered Bluetooth A2DP, when it was announced that Softick Audio Gateway enabled Palm devices to use Bluetooth headphones.
I'd already had a Bluetooth headset: a
Jabra BT200. It never quite worked right in my ear, and people couldn't hear me.
The next try was a BlueParrott B100 which I made work get me because I wanted a real boom mic so I'd be audible. And I was... until the device simply stopped transmitting or receiving audio, despite being paired. (The base is nice; you can use it to attach to a real phone line and use any Bluetooth headset with it.)
So, sitting in the Beehive window that day as today, I tried to figure out where I could get some A2DP headphones quickly, and remembered there's a Radio Shack a few blocks away. They did in fact have one variety, the Motorola HT820, and I purchased them, assuming all would be well. Not so much.
They had but a small mic built into one earpiece, and so many callers couldn't hear me. The plastic band and earpieces were too tight. Worse, Audio Gateway didn't work on my Treo 700p, and MacOS 10.4 didn't support A2DP.
Fast forward a bit, and MacOS 10.5 prereleases became available. They supported A2DP. I became an early adopter for that reason almost entirely; Likewise, Softick fixed Audio Gateway.. but then I broke the HT820's band while in Sweden for work. Ok, time to start thinking again. I got a Scosche IPBCK for my car as a gift, and was able to listen to music in the car, but not anywhere else, at least without wires. So I did more research.
Boom mics are hard to find. Plantronics 590 headsets did have a voice tube, so, I put it on my wishlist, and soon enough my sister was nice enough to get me one as a birthday gift. The sound was excellent, at least to me. But work soon was complaining again that they could hear me. Finally, 2 weeks ago they were annoyed enough to tell me to buy something at their expense, and I did. I got the only thing I could find where the mic was not built into the earpiece: an Anycom BSH-100 headset. The sound's not as good as the Plantronics, but people could hear me. For the first call. Then, they couldn't hear me, and I couldn't hear *anything*, later.
Turns out these aren't being made anymore, or if they are, no one has current stock. The battery, which is replaceable, has horrid life. So, I've now *maybe* managed to order extra batteries. I hope they aren't also bad. But I revisited the research *again*, now that it's too late, and it really does seem like there are just no credible options.
It seems that people who make bluetooth audio gear assume no one wants to both talk on the phone and listen to music.
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Comments:
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/31895871/2346955) | | From: | ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ckd |
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| Date: | March 10th, 2008 08:22 pm (UTC) |
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| | | (Link) |
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I use this, which of course still has cables and all that. OTOH, it works quite well as a Bluetooth headset with my phone and a wired remote with my iPod classic.
I have no ipod (all music is sourced from Columbus, OH via the internet) so this would actually be overkill. Looks neat, though.
That is remarkably similar to something I've been saying I want.
I want essentially an iPod Touch that pretends it's a bluetooth handsfree set. You bond it to an arbitrary who-cares-about-the-carrier bluetooth cell phone, and shove that cell phone in the bottom of your backpack. Then you pretend you have an iPhone.
I don't have much hope that they'll make it. But the thing you use might be close enough.
iPod Touch has no bluetooth tho.
Yes, iPod Touch has no bluetooth. That's why this is "something I want" rather than "something I already have an order in for"...
| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | March 10th, 2008 08:32 pm (UTC) |
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| | An interested party | (Link) |
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That totally sucks. I am remarkably surprised there isn't a niche device made for this. Sounds like an opportunity for some hobbyist. -P13 |
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