Today is the day that Bluetooth changes forever. As expected, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has gone official with their latest Bluetooth 3.0+High Speed spec, ushering in a new age of Bluetooth-connected devices transferring data at an impressive 24Mbps. The new Bluetooth 3.0+HS standard allows for devices, namely smartphones, to quickly pair with other devices using the Bluetooth protocol. And, for those devices equipped with WiFi radios, “+HS” allows for high-speed data transfers that would make Bluetooth 2.1+EDR run home crying.

Bluetooth 3.0+HS will use Bluetooth technology to handle all the device pairing duties, switching to the 802.11 (WiFi) protocol for large file transfers. Of course, that means both paired devices need to have integrated 802.11 WiFi radios in order to take advantage of Bluetooth 3.0’s faster file transfer speeds. Otherwise, file transfers will be handled the good old-fashioned way – over Bluetooth. Bluetooth 3.0+HS is backwards compatible with Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, so you can be sure that all your not-so-cutting-edge gizmos will still play nice with each other.

We’re told to expect to see the new 3.0+HS tech hitting market in 9-12 months’ time. A long wait, to be sure, but likely well worth it!

[Via: Bluetooth]

Spracht has recently announced the newest product in their Bluetooth line. It’s name? Why it’s called the Aura BluNote.

The Aura BluNote is a portable wireless speaker that allows you to listen to your saved music from your Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone, PDA, iPod, MP3/MP4 player, portable game console, PC or Mac. Users streaming music from their phone can make and receive phone calls using the mobile phone hands-free function. The BluNote utilizes Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to provide noise cancellation and convert different audio formats. The Bass Boost produces a rich, deep, bass tone for a more powerful sound. Paired with the Stereo Widening feature, which creates a three dimensional sound, the BluNote is perfect for indoor or outdoor audio activities. The Aura BluNote comes equipped with four AA batteries and an AC adapter.

That pretty much sums it up neatly doesn’t it? We are seeing a lot of these devices now, from little cube-like speakers, through to the more substantial offerings, like this one. Suffice to say, sound quality should always be the deciding factor …..

If you want to check out more about Spracht, you can go here.

[Via: Spracht]

Hellooooo… Generally we see signs of a handset before it makes its way to the FCC, but this N-series dual slider managed to make it through without any prior warning. No model number was available, but here are a few of the specs that we can glean from the FCC report:

• EV-DO Rev. A
• A2DP Stereo Bluetooth
• FM tuner
• 3.5 mm headphone jack
• 3 megapixel camera
• MicroUSB slot

Our money’s on Sprint (NYSE: S) getting this one, but we’ll have to wait and see for a solid answer. Check out the FCC for a closer look.

[via PhoneScoop]

This is what happens when certain Chinese “designers” start using their imagination. Instead of going for something really original, they decided to mix two high-end brands, hoping no one will notice. Or at least, I don’t know how else to explain the existence of the fake Lamborghini Vertu phone. Actually, when you think about it – it’s not a fake device, as there’s no such original handset. Asus wanted to make a Lamborghini phone, but canceled it. There is a Ferrari Vertu phone, but not the one involving the famous “raging bull.”

So there are two things to know:

1. As I said, there is no such device, at least not for now.
2. Don’t buy it. The quality is spotty, to say the least.
3. Bonus note – check the 2nd item.

Just in case you’re wondering what’s under the hood of this fake device, there are two SIM card slots (which seem to be a classic feature for Chinese handsets, nowadays), 2.6-inch QVGA touchscreen (not sure about this one, though), media player, FM radio, some camera, Bluetooth connectivity support. As for the size, it measures 113×56x22 mm, and has a weight of 130 grams…

[Via: JampBLOG]

Does Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) really have that much of a stranglehold on multitouch?

News might have been a little light this week, but we still manage to bring some good listening this episode, as we have patent attorney Barry Negrin from Pryor Cashman to run us through Apple’s legal situation with multi-touch. Elan had initiated legal action aginst the iPhone manufacturer last week, so we thought it might be worth exploring how the patents affect Apple and other handset manufacturers, like Palm (NSDQ: PALM). There’s plenty of other news, as ever, just hit the jump for your weekly dosage. We’re having another go at giving away our Plantronics bluetooth headset to anyone in the U.S. – just leave a comment and you’ve got a chance to win!

Read the full article »

After Bell Mobility and MetroPCS, another carrier is adding the pretty compact Motorola (NYSE: MOT) QA30 Hint. It’s Cricket, which is selling the full QWERTY keyboard-equipped slider for $249.99, without requiring any contract signing. The offer is available through Cricket’s retail location or online.

As for the specs, let me quickly recap that the Hint comes with a 2.5-inch screen, 2 megapixel camera that can take both photos and videos, media player, Bluetooth, and of course a microSD memory card slot.

[Via: MobileBurn]

Motorola has recently announced two new members to its iDEN family of devices, designed for utility, petrochemical and industrial markets. As expected, both devices are super ugly and bulky, though made to perfectly work in noisy and hazardous environments.

Both the Moto r765 and r765IS sport a two-way and a cellular radio, and in that sense they go beyond the traditional push-to-talk. Users can switch between the two modes, whether they’re using the handset for on-site or longer-distance communication. Rest of the specs include Bluetooth, support for Java apps, and data communication.

As for the differences between the r765 and r765IS, the “IS” on the latter model stands for “intrinsically safe.” The Motorola (NYSE: MOT) r765 will be available in Q2 2009, while the IS model will start selling from the third quarter of this year…

[Via: MobileBurn]

There was an interesting company called Veho at the Gadget Show Live 2009 – they were demoing loads of tech, but I pulled two items out to mention:

• Bluetooth music cube – presumably any device that support A2DP profile can connect to this bad boy – noteworthy mainly because of it’s tech-funk industrial design, and reasonable sound quality given it’s size. Certainly handy if you are on holidays, and don’t fancy the headphones in

sorry for the blurry pic

Mini video camera – OK, vid cameras are getting small, but this is ridiculous! A 2MP still snapper, and VGA recorder, which takes microSD up to 8GB (if I remember right). Neat solution in terms of it’s portability, and flexibility to offload simple video recording tasks to a specialist device

Cool tech overall then! Veho’s site seems to be down at the moment, but when it’s back up you can see it here.

Ben

The Sidekick LX line’s newest upgrade is now available for preorder from T-Mobile (NYSE: DT), featuring some long-overdue 3G lovin’. No surprise here, after the FCC testing went through, and a feature list slipped through the cracks well before that. This Sidekick is seriously aiming to tear down some of the misconceptions that this is just a phone for kiddies with too much time for texting. Exchange support and an impressive 854-480 display resolution are just some of the heavy-hitting features coming in this update. Here are a few more:

• Integrated social networking application bundle includes Facebook, MySpace and Twitter
• High-speed Web browsing with 3G support
• Built-in GPS support with Live Search
• 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash
• Ability to record, play and share videos
• Share recorded videos via e-mail and upload videos to social networking sites
• Watch videos on YouTube via the web browser or on MySpaceCarbon or orchid finish
• Music player with streaming audio and streaming RTSP video
• 3.2-inch F-WVGA screen with high-definition LCD technology with 854×480 resolution
• Support for personal e-mail, SMS, MMS, instant messaging (IM)
• Clients include AOL® Instant Messenger, Windows Live and Yahoo!® Messenger
• Iconic swivel design and full QWERTY keyboard (manufactured by Sharp)
• Intuitive user interface with Quick Find to search across all applications
• Network Address Book
• Included 1GB microSD™ memory card
• Bluetooth® 2.0 with A2DP supports stereo Bluetooth and Bluetooth file transfer to other Bluetooth devices including photo printers
• Dimensions: 5.1 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches; 5.7 ounces
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE worldphone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
• Dual-band UMTS/HSDPA (AWS Band IV & Band I)
• 1250 mAh Lithium Ion battery
• Battery: 3G — 3 hours talk time, 6 days standby; 2G — 5.5 hours talk time, 8 days standby
• Software and services provided by Danger, a Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) subsidiary.
• Shortly following launch, T-Mobile plans to make available Exchange Active Sync support via the Sidekick Download Catalog so customers can stay virtually connected to work.

The Sidekick LX 2009 is available for preorder for $199.99 on contract, and should be in stores on May 13th.

[via BusinessWire]

Chinese handset cloners are on the rage. Their latest work is kinda retro, as it deals with a device that is on the market for quite some time now (that’s retro in the mobile world). We’re talking about the original LG Prada phone, which has been blatantly used as an “inspiration” for the new device pictured above.

In an effort to make this phone more appealing to females, the “designers” behind it made it pink and way too shiny. As a result, the super fugly device has been created as you can see for yourself from the image above, and few more images in the gallery bellow.

Specs wise — in case anyone cares — there’s Bluetooth support on board, two SIM card slots, media player, 2.6-inch QVGA touchscreen, and of course a microSD memory card slot. As for the size, the fake Prada phone measures 96×51x13 mm and has a weight of 98 grams… And now the promised images, to better “meet the enemy.”

[Via: JampBLOG]