Mobility Watch

With the new year, lawmakers are coming back to work.  Passing laws, all over the place.  Including the ever-more-popular no-holding-a-cell-phone-in-your-hand-while-driving laws.  The Texas legislature may go in that direction this year.  This will cause more cell phone owners to scramble for hands-free devices. 

So here comes this press release about “free” hands-free headsets for your cell phone.  Free, not counting the $3.94 “shipping and handling” charge.

An offer to get something “free, just pay shipping and handling” always makes me wonder what’s going on.  Usually it’s an offer for a second free Ginsu carving knife, to slice tomatoes razor-thin.  Or for a free sample of, what do you call them?  Memory pills!  That’s it.

The “free” headset deal is from freeheadsets.org.  In spite of the .org on the website, this is NOT a non-profit organization.  It’s owned by a company called Casslin Data Systems based in San Diego.  So we figure Matt MacAdams, the owner, is making a little something on each headset.  

Most cell phones these days come with hands-free devices included by the manufacturer.  But a lot of people toss them in the trash along with the box and the packing material and the owner’s manual.  So when a law gets passed requiring hands-free cell phone use while driving, these folks have to go buy one. 

And $3.94 is probably not a bad deal for a wired headset.  The website makes it easy for technophobes to figure out which headset they need for their particular phone.

(But you won’t catch me ordering one.  I got one of those Motorola $9.95-after-rebate Bluetooth specials at Radio Shack on Black Friday.  And there is no freebluetooth.org - I checked.)

freeheadset.org, Casslin Data Systems, Matt MacAdams, hands-free cell phone use, Bluetooth, Motorola, Radio Shack

[via Fast Pitch]

Friendly advice:  Don’t go Googling the words “Bluetooth lawsuit” unless you’re prepared to sort through a zillion entries.

This is not the suit by Verizon Wireless customers complaining about their Bluetooth functionality being crippled.  Or the suit claiming that Bluetooth headsets are dangerously loud.  It is also not an identity theft suit filed by the Viking warrior Harald Bluetooth, for whom the technology was named.

In this case, a foundation set up to defend patents on work done by universities is suing Nokia, Samsung and Matsushita (Panasonic) for infringing patents related to Bluetooth technology developed by the University of Washington.  The foundation has apparently been negotiating with these firms for years to reach a settlement, without success.

Bluetooth was first developed by scientists at Ericsson in Sweden in 1994.  But it seems an undergrad named Edwin Suominen refined Bluetooth technology while studying at the university, and the control of the patents related to his work reverted to this foundation. 

(I’d like to say that I was doing something important when I was an undergrad, such as refining Bluetooth technology.  I’d like to, but I can’t.)

No comment yet from the companies named in the suit.  CSR, the manufacturer which makes chips which are involved in the suit, isn’t named as a defendant - but says that the suit is “without merit”. 

At this point I wouldn’t worry about your Bluetooth capabilities being turned off suddenly.  But users of BlackBerrys are still recovering from the stress caused by the recent threat of a service cutoff, related to a patent infringement lawsuit against the parent company RIM. 

These legal things can get awfully messy.

Bluetooth, Nokia, Matsushita, Panasonic, Samsung, Ericsson, BlackBerry, RIM, University of Washington,   Edwin Suominen

[via Newsday]

 

There was a time, wayyy back before rotary dials (remember those?) when phones were made mostly out of wood.  These antique wooden wall phones are still available, for about $650.  One of these pictured on the left, hooked up to a landline, would still work, at least for incoming calls.  Dialing out might be a challenge, however. 

This Hulger Bluetooth handset (pictured below, on right) is a 21st century approach to retro styling.  It will work with any cellular or VoIP phone that’s Bluetooth compatible and give your desk or car (Rolls Royce?) a classic “woody” feeling. 

And when the jar of wax (included) runs out, a spritz of Lemon Pledge will probably do the trick. 

This bit of retro chic will run you about $3,850 US dollars. 

Hulger, antique wall phone, Bluetooth

[via Slashgear]

 

 

 

Yes, spilling a hot cup of coffee in your lap isn’t good for you.

Does that justify suing the McDonald’s restaurant that served the superhot coffee?  For hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Yeah, I know, there’s more to that McDonald’s story.  But we thought we’d bring it up, because in the last few days a handful of lawsuits has sprung up against Motorola, Jabra, and other Bluetooth headset manufacturers.  Users of these headsets are claiming that using them for extended periods of time, at high volume levels, can cause hearing loss.

In the words of one of these lawsuits:

“Each headset is defective in design and not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of noise induced hearing loss which can occur if the headsets are used at the higher volume settings over a period of time, a condition which has no cure or treatment.�

In other words - nothing in the documentation that comes with these headsets warns people not to turn the volume up too loud, for too long.  (Whether that’s the case or not, is something to be argued in court.)

Sony and Apple have already dealt with similar legal claims against Walkmans and iPods.  And there are studies being commissioned to investigate the problem.

Meanwhile, we can be fairly sure that one interest group will be a clear winner when this latest round of lawsuits is finished.

The lawyers.

[via RealTechNews, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, tampabay.com]

There is a wide array of Bluetooth headsets that complements Motorola’s mobile phone range. It answers the needs of consumers to a more convenient use when calling or answering a call and of course listening to your favorite music without the tangle of wires.  You might just find the one that suits your needs.

One of the models is the H350 using the latest in Bluetooth technology, ease of use, compatible with any Bluetooth enabled device.  Superior performance and good value for your money.  The ultimate Bluetooth experience.

 

 

Some of the H350’s features are:

 

[via direct.motorola.com]

Your thoughts about geeky-looking Bluetooth headphones?  When I see someone wearing a conspicuous Bluetooth headset I wonder who they spend all that time talking to, and is it important enough to keep that thing sticking in their ear. 

I also think of the character Graham on the TV series ‘24′ and his “Bluetooth Gang” of, whatever they were.  They didn’t do anything positive for Bluetooth’s reputation.

But Sony’s coming-soon DR-BT30Q headsets are neither ugly nor geeky.  These clip-on stereo headsets designed for music also have a microphone for taking hands free calls.  The AC adapter will recharge you in 3 hours; giving you 11 hours of music/talk time and up to 100 hours of standby time.  Pricing and availability to be announced.

[via James Kendrick On The Run]