Hasta La Gadget!

Walk along that sparse borderline between Bluetooth headset and pearl necklace and you’ll eventually come across a company called Novero. It specializes in vaguely ridiculous bejeweled wireless things, but it has some serious products too — including these surreptitious little Rockaway earphones that have just been approved by the FCC. They’ll cope with hands-free calling, 5.5 hours of stereo music and 250 hours in standby — plus they weigh just 10 grams. Perfect for any NYC cabbie wanting to flout the rules at 50MPH.

Barely visible Bluetooth earphones from Novero spotted at the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments

It’s not often that a phone swings through the FCC with its carrier branding already in place, but here is the ZTE N860 with a nice big Sprint logo emblazoned across its regulatory label. Interestingly, it doesn’t appear that the N860 (which we hope picks up a catchier name on its way to market) packs a WiMAX radio. Instead this Android smartphone only has test entries for its EVDO connection, but we wouldn’t rule out a 4G hiding in some of the unreleased documents. In addition to its trip through the FCC, the handset also hit up the BlueTooth SIG and we can tell it sports A2DP capabilities – but, beyond that (even what particular version of Google’s mobile OS it’s running) this thing is still a mystery.

ZTE N860 heading to Sprint, granted FCC and BlueTooth SIG approval originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unwired View  |  BlueTooth SIG, FCC  | Email this | Comments

A post-update JamBox, ready to rock. Photo Charlie Sorrel

JawBone has issued yet another update for its little speaker with big sound, the JamBox. If you have been following along, you’ll know that the recent 2.0 software update added LiveAudio, a sound-processing based implementation of binaural audio which stretches out sound and makes it appear to surround you.

Used with an iPad playing Dolby surround movies, it’s pretty awesome.

This 2.1 update adds Sound Clarity which JawBone says “delivers clearer, distortion-free sound” when LiveAudio is switched off. Apparently there have been complaints on the Internet that v2.0 made some speakers sound cold and fuzzy, and generally worse.

I have hardly switched off LiveAudio since I installed it, so you can probably guess my take on the problem. I have noticed that it is a little quiet when watching some TV shows and movies, but that’s part of the LiveAudio processing. Switching it off makes things much louder.

The 2.1 update does indeed make the regular mode sound better. It’s warmer and clearer. I haven’t tested it at full volume because I still have some respect for my neighbors, even if one of them lets his grandchildren torture their baby sister while I’m trying to work, and another spends the entire day (not kidding) holding a (very loud) conversation with football (soccer) games on the TV. And then he sings hip hop (badly) to his daughter.

Jambox updater page [JawBone]

See Also:

• Software Update Makes Jambox 10x Bigger, Crawl Across Desks …
• JamBox
• JamBox Designer Reinvents Neighborhood Biking
• Bass-Bustin', Battery-Powered Speaker Invented by Rocket Scientist …

Skype‘s latest app upgrade brings a few substantial features, some good, one not so. Alongside a new anti-shake video call function (limited to the iPhone’s back-facing camera), you can now pair Bluetooth headsets with the VoIP calling service, something apparently “long requested” from Skype fans. However, users have to fork out for credit to avoid seeing advertising that’s also baked into the new version. The update’s now up for grabs on both the iPhone and iPad, though there are reports of a few teething troubles, including missing credit and account details. We’ve also been experiencing issues, with the app unwilling to play nice with our Bluetooth headsets, though oddly, we can still hear the Skype call ring through. Hopefully we’ll see another update that sorts this out soon — till then, tap the link below for more details, or ogle a bit of smoothed out anti-shake action after the break.

Continue reading Skype update for iOS adds anti-shake, Bluetooth connectivity and ads for freeloaders

Skype update for iOS adds anti-shake, Bluetooth connectivity and ads for freeloaders originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Arena  |  Skype, iTunes App Store  | Email this | Comments

At first glance this looks like your average, dime a dozen, AA-powered portable speaker. But then you realize the unannounced device is at the FCC because it’s wireless — Bluetooth in this instance. Next, you notice the chunky eight-inch midriff and the large (but still cheap-looking) stereo drivers and you finally acknowledge that this thing might actually beat the puny speakers in your brand new Lenovo Ultrabook. Still, it’s not nearly as surprising as a music-playing lightbulb.

Lenovo BT820 wireless speaker triggers impromptu rave at the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  FCC  | Email this | Comments