Ted Leung on the air
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Ted Leung on the air: Open Source, Java, Python, and ...
Sat, 26 Jun 2004
Bluetooth for normal phones
I am spending a lot more time on the telephone these days. Having a decent phone headset makes that a workable situation. I'd love to escape from my wired headset to an unwired headset. So the ideal situation seems like a Bluetooth headset that I can use with a regular (POTS/landline) phone, my cell phone, and my Powerbook (VOIP/iChat). The cell phone and Powerbook are covered, but the POTS part isn't. Google reveals that some products purporting to do this have been announced, but I haven't been able to find them actually listed on a vendor's page...
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10 Comments |
Ted -- head on over to http://www.blue-spoon.com. Not only is the Bluespoon the best headset on the market (Chameleon runs about $100, Digital about $300 [includes active noise cancellation & various DSP enhancement]), it's got great battery life, is tiny, and supports pairing to three devices simultaneously.
They've got a device called the Bluespoon Home that'll do exactly what you want. It works with any headset, too.
Note that unlike their headsets, the Home looks OEMed to me, so it's likely available from other vendors as well.
Posted by Dave Nanian at Sun Jun 27 07:08:42 2004
They've got a device called the Bluespoon Home that'll do exactly what you want. It works with any headset, too.
Note that unlike their headsets, the Home looks OEMed to me, so it's likely available from other vendors as well.
Posted by Dave Nanian at Sun Jun 27 07:08:42 2004
In the best tradition of geekdom I'll offer answers to two other questions. You could switch you phone to a broadband phone company that supports soft phone extensions (http://xrl.us/ca2s). You could purchase a telephone card for a machine you house and then after figuring out how to get it to work achieve an soft phone extension that way.
Posted by Ben Hyde at Sun Jun 27 08:17:30 2004
Posted by Ben Hyde at Sun Jun 27 08:17:30 2004
Just to let you know, bluetooth landline phones do exist.
Sharper Image sells one.
Posted by Omar McFarlane at Sun Jun 27 10:47:24 2004
Sharper Image sells one.
Posted by Omar McFarlane at Sun Jun 27 10:47:24 2004
Dave,
I'm curious: have you actually used a Bluespoon Home? I couldn't find any actual reviews on Google.
Also, it appears that the Bluespoon headsets didn't get the best reviews, at least at Infosync and Mobile burn.
Posted by Ted Leung at Sun Jun 27 13:04:32 2004
I'm curious: have you actually used a Bluespoon Home? I couldn't find any actual reviews on Google.
Also, it appears that the Bluespoon headsets didn't get the best reviews, at least at Infosync and Mobile burn.
Posted by Ted Leung at Sun Jun 27 13:04:32 2004
Ben,
I'm not quite ready to get rid of my landline, or to go absolutely cordless. We still have one landline unbattery powered phone that still works when the power goes out (and all the other phones are down).
Posted by Ted Leung at Sun Jun 27 13:06:01 2004
I'm not quite ready to get rid of my landline, or to go absolutely cordless. We still have one landline unbattery powered phone that still works when the power goes out (and all the other phones are down).
Posted by Ted Leung at Sun Jun 27 13:06:01 2004
Ted: I haven't used the Bluespoon home, but I have both a Chameleon and a Digital and really like both. YMMV, of course. (I've used a lot of BT headsets... I can complain about the Digital, mostly because of the buttons, but the Chameleon is awfully good.)
Posted by Dave Nanian at Mon Jun 28 07:16:31 2004
Posted by Dave Nanian at Mon Jun 28 07:16:31 2004
Sorry for the 2nd comment here... should have read the review first.
I haven't found the Chameleon to have appalling range, but it may in some situations. If I'm using it with my G5, I can walk out of the office and into the next room without any trouble, but past that is iffy. I've also used many of the Sony, Motorola and Jabra headsets, and they seem to do the same thing.
I also find most of the other units quite large and cumbersome (the HBH-6x series Sonys aren't large, but they have terrible battery life). Definitely take 'em for a test drive, of course -- I think these things are less objectively rated than perhaps these ratings imply.
Posted by Dave Nanian at Mon Jun 28 07:23:15 2004
I haven't found the Chameleon to have appalling range, but it may in some situations. If I'm using it with my G5, I can walk out of the office and into the next room without any trouble, but past that is iffy. I've also used many of the Sony, Motorola and Jabra headsets, and they seem to do the same thing.
I also find most of the other units quite large and cumbersome (the HBH-6x series Sonys aren't large, but they have terrible battery life). Definitely take 'em for a test drive, of course -- I think these things are less objectively rated than perhaps these ratings imply.
Posted by Dave Nanian at Mon Jun 28 07:23:15 2004
Ted,
You might take a look at <a href=http://www.gnnetcom.com/usa2003/>the GN 6110</a> from GN Netcom. It looks promising. I haven't tried it, as I traded my t68i for a Treo 600, but we do have one of their standard headsets in the office, and it works well. (The Treo is great, but I really miss Bluetooth.)
Posted by Coty Rosenblath at Thu Jul 1 12:43:03 2004
You might take a look at <a href=http://www.gnnetcom.com/usa2003/>the GN 6110</a> from GN Netcom. It looks promising. I haven't tried it, as I traded my t68i for a Treo 600, but we do have one of their standard headsets in the office, and it works well. (The Treo is great, but I really miss Bluetooth.)
Posted by Coty Rosenblath at Thu Jul 1 12:43:03 2004
Check out the following...
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail~dpno~200598.asp
Posted by Ken at Fri Feb 25 09:28:08 2005
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail~dpno~200598.asp
Posted by Ken at Fri Feb 25 09:28:08 2005
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