Samsung Giorgio Armani 2 specs leaked by Bluetooth SIG

As best as we can tell, that June 11th Armani event with Samsung and Microsoft came and went with nothing more than a new ad campaign featuring David Beckham in his knickers, and Sammy’s June 15th solo fête was devoted to the Omnia lineup and said nothing of any impending Windows Mobile fashionphone. So whatever happened to the rumored luxury device? The Bluetooth SIG group has leaked specs of the Samsung B7620, which the company’s Twitter feed labels as the Giorgio Armani 2. According to the product page, under the hood we’re looking at a 800MHz processor, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, A-GPS, Stereo FM Radio, WiFi, business card scanner, and the usual assortment audio / video codecs. Of course, the big deal here is gonna be what’s it gonna look like on the exterior, and unfortunately this technological diva hasn’t seen fit to leave her dressing room just yet.

[Via Mobilewhack]

Read – Bluetooth SIG’s twitter account
Read – B7620’s product details page

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Samsung Giorgio Armani 2 specs leaked by Bluetooth SIG originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers use Bluetooth to track festival goers, make fun of their ‘hippie dancing’

A team from the University of Ghent in Belgium is lacing the site of this year’s Rock Werchter festival — Brussel’s equivalent of Woodstock ’97 — with Bluetooth scanners (36 total, they cover a range of 30 meters each). While you’re rocking out to the likes of Bloc Party and Mastodon, the researchers will be tracking your every movement, whether it be to the mosh pit, the beer tent, or the Job Johnny. As you’ve probably assumed, the researchers are primarily looking for ways that retailers can monitor customer flow (read: sell you more crap) although there are certainly going to be results applicable to the world of law enforcement. Of course, this is Bluetooth: you always have the option of disabling it on your phone, and if you don’t they’ll only be able to discern your MAC address. Besides, if you’re not doing anything illegal, you have nothing to fear from the surveillance state — right? And if you are up to no good, well, that’s why they invented the Dazer Lazer.

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Researchers use Bluetooth to track festival goers, make fun of their ‘hippie dancing’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Engadget: Best Bluetooth mouse out there?

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Sang-Jung, who is desperately in search of the perfect cordless critter to take some of the strain away from that trackpad.

“I’m heading to university next year, and I’ve purchased a MacBook. I’m also taking my four year old desktop, just in case I’m left with no computers when the MacBook is being repaired or whatnot. With only two USB ports on a MacBook, I want a Bluetooth mouse. Budget is about $100, and of course, it needs OS X support. Thanks for the help!”

Alright folks, it’s time to get serious. Do you own a Bluetooth mouse that you can recommend? Recommend against? Be sure to spill your thoughts in comments below, and feel free to send in a question of your own to ask at engadget dawt com.

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Ask Engadget: Best Bluetooth mouse out there? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jabra Go 6400 and Pro 9400 with capacitive touchscreen base redefines overkill, want

Here’s what you get when a manufacturer tries to justify a $199 price tag on its newest headsets. The Jabra Go 6400 (pictured above) and Pro 9400 look to be standard noise-cancelling Bluetooth and DECT headsets, respectively, with a multifunction button to answer/reject/redial/mute calls and adjust the volume. However, these headsets are paired with an industry first touch-screen base for call management. The 2.4-inch capacitive LCD displays caller ID, call records, and lets users switch between their mobile, desk, and corporate softphones via a spin of the carousel. Fun sure, and exceedingly geeky, but hardly worth the $199 to duplicate functions already built-in to the headsets or accessible via the displays on the devices it connects to. Then again, these are aimed at office professionals (read: corporations) when they launch in September and $199 is nothing when you’re spending someone else’s money. DECT configuration pictured after the break.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Jabra Go 6400 and Pro 9400 with capacitive touchscreen base redefines overkill, want

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Jabra Go 6400 and Pro 9400 with capacitive touchscreen base redefines overkill, want originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Endeavor HX1 ears-on

We’ve been playing with Motorola’s recently-announced Endeavor HX1 for the past few hours, and we’re just going to come right out with it: this is the best Bluetooth headset we’ve ever used. Moto claims that the HX1 is the world’s first consumer headset to use “true bone conduction technology,” a veiled (but obvious) reference to the external cheek-resting sensor found on Jawbone’s devices — and indeed, the Jawbone Prime is the most obvious direct competitor to the HX1. Both devices offer decent styling, feature optional earloops and a selection of earbuds for a tighter fit, are being positioned as premium headsets, and — most importantly — pack a ton of innovative circuitry all in the name of cutting noise in harsh surroundings. Head on over to Engadget Mobile for our quick take!

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Motorola Endeavor HX1 ears-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ears On With Motorolas Bone Conduction Bluetooth Headset

moto-hx01-handson.jpgThe Motorola HX1 could raise the standard for noise cancellation on a Bluetooth headset. As we’ve reported before, the HX1 uses a bone-conduction microphone in severely noisy areas to extract your voice straight from your skull, thus eliminating noise. The special bone mic is the little nub on the right hand side of the in-ear piece shown at left.

I got a demo of the HX1 at a Motorola event today, and it was impressive and a little weird. With “stealth mode” turned off, the HX1 is still a very good Bluetooth headset, much like the Motorola H780. With “stealth mode” turned on, calls don’t sound any different to the person actually wearing the HX1. But for the person on the other end of the call, the HX1 wearer’s voice suddenly gets muddier and is surrounded by total silence – at least in the demo, noise completely went away. It was tough to gauge the decline in voice quality in bone-conduction mode, though it was definitely noticeable.
I’m interested to try the HX1 to see if the tradeoff between noise cancellation and voice quality is good enough to make this headset usable in extreme cirumstances. We may be getting one at PC Mag Labs within the next few weeks.

VIZIO Internet App HDTVs launch later this year, for less than you might expect

Sure VIZIO only just showed off new updates in its high end XVT series, but it’s already planning the next generation of LCDs with VIZIO Internet Apps included. Packing widget functionality, 802.11n wireless networking and slider QWERTY Bluetooth remote, the SV422XVT, SV472XVT and VF552XVT Connected HDTVs are coming home in November, October and December, respectively. Already on deck to serve up content for your widgets are Vudu, Revision3, Facebook, Twitter, Rhapsody, Blockbuster OnDemand, Showtime, Flickr and more. The biggest surprise? There’s apparently no price premium planned for these features, with the 55-inch clocking in at the same $2,199 price as the model it’s replacing, though the 47-inch jumps $200 over the previous edition to $1,699, while adding the local dimming LED backlit technology previously reserved for the 55-inch. The 42-inch will be the first and cheapest available at $1,199 (sans LED) — we’ll see if that bar is low enough to get viewers to jump into the internet-connected display future.

Read – VIZIO Announces High Performance XVT HDTV Line Up with 240Hz SPS(TM), TruLED(TM) and Smart Dimming(TM) Technology, VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA), and Slim Line(TM) 120Hz LCD HDTV Models
Read – VIZIO Unveils Rhapsody Digital Music Service for VIZIO Internet Apps (VIA(TM)) Connected HDTVs
Read – VIZIO Reveals Dynamic New Content Partners for VIZIO Internet Apps Connected HDTV Feature

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VIZIO Internet App HDTVs launch later this year, for less than you might expect originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BT-1 Bluetooth webcam for Mac finally shipping

To think, we’ve been waiting on the edge of our seats since January to get our hands on Ecamm’s BT-1 wireless, Bluetooth-enabled webcam for OS X. Sure, 640 x 480 / 15fps H.264 video quality is comparable to what our MacBooks get anyway, but hey, at least you can be a little more artsy on your Skype calls without losing that prime display viewing angle. All that waiting doesn’t matter now, anyway, since it’s finally shipping out. Price is $150 and it includes a mini-tripod and USB charger cable — can’t seem to get rid of wires entirely just yet. As for Windows support, it’s still not there officially, but we’ve no doubt some intrepid young coder with an afternoon to spare will fix that.

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BT-1 Bluetooth webcam for Mac finally shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maria Sharapova models Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson prototype dress

Sony Ericsson’s official spokesperson, Maria Sharapova, was on hand recently to unveil a student-designed prototype of a Bluetooth-enabled dress. The iridescent scales that run up one side of the dress move and light up when the phone rings, enabling its owner to know about calls even in noisy places (so says the dress’s maker, Georgie Davies). Yes, it’s just a prototype for now, but it’s a pretty cute dress, so hopefully we’ll see these hit the streets at some point in the (nearish) future.

[Via Switched]

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Maria Sharapova models Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson prototype dress originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola Announces HX1 Headset, Goes Up Against Jawbone

moto-hx01.jpgMotorola today announced a new noise-canceling Bluetooth headset that uses “true bone conduction technology” to transmit voices from extremely noisy environments. By using the word “bone,” of course, Moto not only makes teenage boys around the world giggle, but directly positions themselves against the Aliph Jawbone Prime headset.

The new Endeavor HX01 headset uses Motorola’s CrystalTalk voice system in most situations; that software has worked well on their existing H15 headset. But the HX1’s new “stealth mode” transmits your “vocal vibrations,” supposedly totally cutting off outside noise – though, I’m sure, at the expense of voice quality. The Jawbone Prime doesn’t actually use bone conduction in the same way; rather, it uses a bone-conducting sensor to tell when you’re talking. It’ll be interesting to see how well the Endeavor’s approach works.

The HX1 will be available starting in July. Motorola didn’t announce a price.