I am in Walmart browsing through the CDs when I hear the man beside me yelling about the front porch being painted sandy brown instead or burnt orange. I should mention that it was just me and the man in that section. I look up, thinking he was, for some unknown reason, talking to me. I did not notice he was on the phone, so surely he would not be talking to himself like that (although some people do). After staring at him for a brief moment of time, trying to figure out if he was talking to me, I was about to respond with an “excuse me,”  when he points to his ear and indicates that he was on the phone.

I refuse to give in to the trend that is forcefully pushing through of wearing the cool devices we call Bluetooth headsets. Yes, eventually I will fall into the trend convincing myself of what a convenience it is and it is not so bad, but for now, I do not like the Bluetooth headset. However, there is coolness about them, and makers are finally delivering these products that could quite possibly accessorize with your attire. So not only convenient and safe, but also fashionable.

New legislation prohibiting drivers from talking while behind the wheel, combined with a demand for more fashionable and advanced devices and more sophisticated phones, is driving Bluetooth headset makers to innovate. I took a look at the newest Jawbone technology and I must say, it is very nice.The latest addition to the wireless world is Aliph’s Jawbone with “NoiseAssassin” technology.

Aliph set out to blend science with beauty in a new design that is 50 percent smaller than the original Jawbone and features noise-elimination technology that promises better voice quality. The new headset is available exclusively at AT&T retail stores and at Jawbone’s site. The new Jawbone features military-grade NoiseAssassin technology, designed to address real-world noise environments like busy streets, cars and airports. Aliph said, “it has 10 times better voice clarity than competing headsets” — meaning it is virtually quite.

The Jawbone headset uses the VAS (Voice Activity Sensor) to distinguish the sound of your voice from ambient noise and then uses proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms to subtract the noise so only the sound of your voice comes through. You are probably thinking, “wow, this is high tech for such a simple piece of equipment.” You are right, it is, but for good reasons. Not only are you getting military technology for your phone, but you are getting it in style.

The new Jawbone is designed to look and feel like an accessory along the lines of jewelry and eyewear. It offers a customized fit with three sizes of earbuds and four ear loops that can be worn on either ear. It is important to not only be functional, but fashionable as well. I’ve noticed quite a change in the younger crowd. As mentioned in an earlier post, kids are practically born with cells phones and unlike my days of school where it was cool to show off your coolest shoes, CD Player, or hat, the cell phone industry has made a remarkable turn to attract with the coolest cell phones and accessories. Why not add some style to a Bluethooth headset!

Sure, you can grab a cheap Bluetooth headset of the shelf for no less than $20.00 now, but the Jawbone has class. It sells for $129.99 in matte black. Silver and rose-gold colors will soon be added.

That’s the tagline for Cerulean’s F1 Wireless Stereo Bluetooth headset, and they’re right. After a disastrous installation of Apple’s Leopard 10.5 OS I decided I needed a new toy. My local toystore had just taken delivery of a couple of pairs of F1s so I thought, why not?

The CERULEAN F1 combines a mono mobile headset with a stereo Bluetooth earphone, which receives and reproduces audio from a TX equipped iPod or a stereo Bluetooth mobile device. The CERULEAN F1 forms a bond with a TX equipped iPod and can be simultaneously connected to a supported mobile phone – automatically switching to headset mode upon incoming phone calls and resuming music playback when done. The F1’s features include controls that allow you to adjust volume, cycle through tracks and pause playback. This baby awarded the iLounge.com “Best of Show” award at its preview during MacWorld Expo 2007 for good reason.

It works straight out of the box with Apple’s new Leopard and provides full stereo sound directly from any Mac running Leopard or via a TX transmitter for extended range and performance by making use of Leopard’s A2DP support. I can also remotely control iTunes including Play/Pause and Skip Tracks as needed. On top of that it works as a better-than-average VOiP headset with iChat, and Skype. That’s Christmas taken care of. If you own a Mac and didn’t take my advice to wait before installing leopard, go buy a pair, they rock.

You can get a good deal at amazon.com

The Venturi mini is a Bluetooth device that plugs into a car’s cigarette lighter ( for those politically incorrect cars that still come with a cigarette lighter.)

Once connected, the Mini serves as a Bluetooth hands-free phone connector and a music streaming jukebox from the phone to a car stereo system. As Bluetooth is becoming standard issue on new smart phones, this little device could be the beginning of the end for paired accessories.

Using Euro-standard Radio Data System (RDS) transmission, the Mini also streams track information and caller ID information to the car stereo, so compatible units are able to display the information on the radio’s LCD screen. There’s also basic audio in/out jacks so you can make direct connections if your stereo’s set up for it.

The only problem I can see with this, is the fact that it requires the radio to be tuned to a specific frequency, so if you happen to be listening to a different radio station when a call comes in, you have to switch back to that frequency. Not a major disaster, and worth the trouble I think. Look out for these crossing to the US next year.

The manufacturer’s website is here.

The first two things you think when seeing the brand new Porsche P’9521 phone are “Dam, that’s a nice looking piece of technology,” and “I want one.”

There is no question it’s a great looking phone and at least as well designed as their cars. The P’9521 is milled from a sold block of aluminum, is double hinged to allow the screen to rotate through 180 degrees. But get this-it has a built-in fingerprint scanner that allows you to create shortcuts based on which finger you tough the screen with. Each finger can be assigned a speed dial number or a phone function. Touch the screen with a particular finger and a call is made or the phone locked.

With a 3.2 megapixel video and stills camera, OLED screen , three built in speakers , EDGE, and the coolest design I have EVER seen on a phone, this one jumps straight to the top of my Christmas list. Price? – Circa $1,600, which makes it a bargain compared to the “Gresso Avantgarde.”

I want one, I want one, I want one. But bad news for my American friends, it’s not being shipped to the USA. So here’s some photos to make up for it.

I have at last found out what the MTube is. It’s being dubbed an “IMP” which stands for Internet Media Player. The MTube officially launched last Tuesday by Taiwan’s Science and Technolgy Advisory Group. The Taiwan government plans to promote the MTube as a brand new type of design and hopes to create a whole new category of devices. This thing is so small and so fast, I have to have one. Take a look at the video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zy23Oc1904[/youtube]

I will be interested to see whether the rest of the world picks up this idea and runs with it. Just imagine what Apple or Sony can do with something like this? It’s certainly good to see a solid idea coming out of Taiwan rather than the normal places. It’s also good to see that this is a governmen-backed initiativ, so it looks as though they have a solid foundation to work from. If they can just get enough of these into the market before the big boys catch up, I think they have a chance to create and hold a new market. Good luck guys.