Hasta La Gadget!

Cartel’s CT-1000 brought about lots of laughs here at Engadget HQ, and frankly, we’re shocked and amazed (and glad) these guys are still hanging tough two years later. The newest in-car handset system is the predictably titled CT-2000, which includes a Bluetooth-enabled handset that’s meant to be permanently installed within your vehicle and wired to your audio system. Once installed, all of your mobile calls can be routed to this — because, you know, chatting on a corded phone circa 1992 is entirely more safe than chatting on your mobile or using a handsfree solution. The only difference we can spot between the new guy and the aged sibling is the addition of music control, a “slimmer” (albeit wider) design, room for your phone contacts and one-touch speed dialing. There’s no mention of a price, but trust us, you’re better off in the dark.

[Thanks, Martin]

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

Cartel’s CT-2000 in-car Bluetooth handset adds music control, can’t shake the retro originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boy, TomTom sure has chosen the worst possible time to release its Car Kit for iPhone, and to make matters worse, its decision to not include the iPhone app is now set in stone. That’s right, the hardware alone will set you back the cost of a TomTom ONE nowadays, and the $99.95 app works on the iPhone 3G and 3GS without it. So here’s the question: is the car kit worth the extra $119.95? To find out, we got hold of a review unit for a sunny road trip around London. Surprisingly, the car kit uses Bluetooth to connect the GPS receiver to the iPhone, even though there’s a dock connector for charging. Bluetooth connectivity does have its advantages: according to TomTom it can work as a generic Bluetooth GPS receiver for any satellite navigation app on the iPhone, or any smartphones at all for that matter. TomTom even confirmed that the car kit could potentially compensate for the first-generation iPhone’s lack of built-in GPS, but since its app won’t run on anything but a 3G or 3GS we’ll have to wait and see if that’s actually useful. Meanwhile, the company is cooking up a compatible app for the original iPhone and the iPod Touch, which could make the car kit more worthwhile. Read on for our hands-on impression and test videos.

[Thanks for being our driver, Sam]

Continue reading TomTom Car Kit for iPhone review

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

TomTom Car Kit for iPhone review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Those looking for another excuse to wear a Bluetooth headset all the time just got it: iTech’s $75 Dynamic SolarVoice 908. That awfully long title is applied to a conceptually simple device, a headset with a tiny solar panel on the side rated at five hours of talk time when fully charged. Sadly, though, there’s no mention of how long you’ll need to bask in the sun to get it there. (AC and USB charging are also naturally on offer.) Unlike earlier examples it’s A2DP compliant, so it’ll stream your tunes, and boasts integrated noise cancellation, so it’s perfect for making your drunken barroom conversations a little more garbled.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Wearables

i.Tech’s SolarVoice Bluetooth headset could save the environment, not your look originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Waterloo-based Allerta has officially announced the inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry–but as we reported last week, it’s not exactly what it seems.

The inPulse isn’t a full-blown BlackBerry smartphone, and Research in Motion has nothing to do with it, as CrackBerry.com reports. Instead, it works as a companion device that alerts you to incoming BlackBerry messages or calendar events.

The inPulse features a 1.3-inch full color OLED display, Bluetooth 2.0, a tiny 150 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, a glass lens, a vibrating motor for alerts, a micro-USB port to charge the thing, and the ability to install firmware updates over the air. The company estimates that the inPulse lasts about four days on a single charge; it also requires an app install on the main BlackBerry, which needs to run BlackBerry OS 4.3 or up.

Allerta is taking pre-orders for the inPulse smartwatch at $149, with deliveries scheduled for February 2010.

Finally, the teaser‘s over. The latest delivery to Engadget‘s UK penthouse is the Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset due out in the US on 8th November, and we took no time to extract the pebble from the transparent cylinder. In front of us are the two parts of the STONE: an earpiece of a breakthrough form factor that instantly makes you pity its rivals, and behind it is the accompanying portable charging base which serves as an external battery. The latter is equipped with a micro-USB port and an LED indicator — simply green or red — to show whether there’s enough battery juice for one full charge. It’s a pretty neat idea as this is the only feasible way to fit eight hours of talk time (or twelve days of standby time) into such tiny package: two on the earpiece and an extra six from the surprisingly light battery base — our scale reckons it is just under one ounce. We also dig the auto-off function when you dock the earpiece and vice versa. Docking and undocking are pretty straight forward too: just snap in for the former, and poke your thumb through the bottom hole of the base to push the earpiece out. The generic click button hidden under the Jabra badge is easy to access and responds well. Above that is the invisible vertical touch strip for volume control and similarly it responded nicely to our strokes. What’s left on the earpiece are the two LED indicators on the underside for Bluetooth connectivity and battery. So far so good, but what really matters is the ear-on experience and the audio quality — listen for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset review

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Wireless

Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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