Now you can be James Bond - Control your car with your phone!

Ever wanted to control your car via your computer, or even cell phone? Well, you guessed it, it’s here.

Before you even get to your car, you can have the windows down, radio on your favorite station, and the car started for you. Talk about impressing your friends - and now you can do it a with a few pushes of some buttons.

Technology from Connect2Car has made all of this possible, and even more. You can control everything in your car with their device, here is a short list of some of them; windows, putting the top down, radio on/off, start the car, honk the horn, and more. Even better, if you have a custom car with hydraulics, lambo doors, TVs (they’re almost standard now though), or anything else, you can probably control it with your phone using the Connect2Car device!

Best of all, the pricetag isn’t unreasonable. Starting at $219 (USD) and up to $539 if you want more advanced controls.

[Check out more info @ Connect2Car.com]

Bluetooth and motorcycle helmets combine for a great combo

Now motorcycle riders can enjoy phone conversations while on their bike without even removing their hands from the handle bars. Not only that, they can be listening to the FM radio from their bluetooth headset and decide whether to take the call, ignore the call, or mute the call as well - still without touching their phone.

The SCALA-RIDER FM Headset released by Cardo Systems, Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of wireless Bluetooth devices for the consumer market, is a safe alternative for bikers. The SCALA-RIDER can be placed and any helmet within a few minutes, and removed from any helmet in minutes without leaving a trace. The headset is fully weather protected, so rain or shine, this device will perform. Chairman and CEO of Cardo Systems, Abraham Glezerman stated:

“Motorcyclists can have comfortable, secure, hands-free wireless communication, and enjoy their favorite music. As with all other versions of the SCALA-RIDER, this product too puts safety first: Automatic volume adjustment and voice controlled receipt of incoming calls allow users to keep their hands on the handlebars.”

More…

CBS TV clips via Bluetooth courtesy of Kameleon at Grand Central, NYC

Kameleon Technologies announced Friday a partnership with CBS television to provide clips of upcoming CBS TV shows from interactive billboards to commuters passing through Grand Central.

The system, which makes use of Kameleon’s MobiZone technology, enables those with Bluetooth enabled handsets to receive short clips of CBS’ fall lineup at no cost. The clips can either be played instantly, stored or passed onto friends. No additional software/applications are required on the user’s handset.

According to Kameleon, here is how it works:

Each Billboard invites the mobile user to open his Bluetooth connection and make it discoverable. Then the user is invited to accept a free clip from the particular Show. If he accepts, the clip automatically downloads and plays on the screen of the mobile.

The interactive billboards will start appearing in several locations at New York’s Grand Central Station from September. Something to while away the time on those long and busy commutes…

[Read the full text of the release at PRWeb.com]

Phone Friday! News & reviews on some phones

HTC release the Excalibur, better than the Q?

The Excalibur is HTC’s version of the Q, but appears to blow the Q out of the water. This thin smart phone comes with Windows Mobile and a full QWERTY keybaord. It also will have Mi-FI and Bluetooth, and like the Q it will have a method for one handed navigation. The Excalibur will have a touch sensitive scroll pad including home and back keys as well.
The Excalibur is rumored to launch with Sprint in the US by the end of the year, but no word on an exact date or price.

[Thanks for Geek.com for the pictures, and check out HTC’s website for more of their sleek phones.]

LG releases some white chocolate

Although this may not be the Chocolate, the LF1300 certianly has some flavor. The LF1300 comes with a 2-inch QVGA display, 1.3 megapixel camer, SD expansion, Bluetooth, and of course, an MP3 Player.

This slider measures 98 x 48 x 16.9mm and will be available through CYON. The LF1300 is said to be released only in Korea, and no word on pricing as of now.

[Picture and story from I4U.com]

Milk chocolate from Sony Ericsson?

Well this also isn’t the Chocolate, but Sony Ericsson has released a milk chocolate colored phone, calling it the K800i. It comes with a brilliant 3.2 megapixel camera, UMTS high-speed data, and and MP3/MPEG4 player.

The K800i will be released in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

[Picture from Gizmodo.com]

Bluetooth watches, what next?

Chronotech may make everyones dream come true on November 8, 2006, they will be releasing a watch that doubles as a bluetooth headset. Ok maybe not everyones dream, or even anyones dream, but Chronotech hopes that their product will be the next big hit to consumers.

The bluetooth watches will be available in analog and digital, retailing for $127.95 USD and $119.95 USD, respectively. They will come in a combination of colors as well, black, black/white, gray, navy, green sparkle, white sparkle, blue and pink.

[Check out Bluetooth Watches for more info]

Blackberry’s Precious Pearl - 8100, no longer just a number

Employees at RIM have let details slip of the soon to be released Blackberry 8100 a.k.a Blackberry Pearl. The Pearl has a number of features that people have been longing to have included in their Blackberry’s - a camera, external storage and other multimedia goodies - the perfect mix of business and pleasure.

Features include:

• EDGE mobile broadband data services
• Bluetooth
• microSD card support
• Camera with built-in flash

Engadget has scooped the leaked RIM internal release (officially under embargo until 18 September) and has the full details. Here’s a snippet describing the new unit:

The BlackBerry Pearl is a very cool, incredibly small, easy-to-use smartphone. It comes complete with digital camera, multimedia capabilities and expandable memory. And it, of course, offers the full BlackBerry experience – including email, phone, web browser, text messaging, organizer applications and much more. This year, give your loved one the gift of freedom – with the BlackBerry Pearl they can do all the things they “have to do” and more of the things they “want to do.”

This adds just a few more reasons that will prevent “crackberries” from kicking the habit!

Due for release next month through T-Mobile first and then presumably Cingular some time later, the Pearl will have a retail tag of US$199.

[More from Engadget]

Hot new headsets from Plantronics coming soon!

Headset manufacturer Plantronics has four new Bluetooth devices coming our way to round out Q3.

For $80 the Bluetooth 1.1 Explorer 330 uses the typical ‘apostrophe’ style around the ear approach that many of us have become accustomed to.

The Pulsar 590E (pictured right) features over the ear style headphones and an boom-style mic and has an SRP of $139.95.

And then there’s the Pulsar 260. A control unit sporting Bluetooth 2.0 for the more discerning users with MP3-playing phones demanding high quality stereo earbuds and remote facilities for volume control and track selection.

Also using 2.0 is the Discovery 655 a super-lightweight ‘in-ear’ headset with optional charger.

If you are in the market for a new Bluetooth partner for your ‘phone, sit tight and watch out for these bad boys to start appearing in stores from Sept ‘06.

Using your phone on a plane, possibly coming soon?

A company by the name of ASiQ has applied for a patent to allow using your cell phone while flying. The unit is connected by either a standard cable or bluetooth connection, and it claims to not interfere with ground networks or the aircraft’s avionics.

[Read more]