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December 21, 2003 |
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
The LibertyLink wireless headset
This week's news |
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NEW NAME. SAME GREAT HANDHELDS.
The name palmOne was chosen following interviews with a broad spectrum of Palm customers, partners, employees, naming consultants and industry influencers.
When people inside and outside the company reflect on Palm's essence, three ideas emerged consistently: the company's heritage as a pioneer in handheld computing, Palm's worldwide leadership, which it has retained despite an influx of competitors; and the conviction that Palm always would place customers first, thereby delivering what matters most to them.
Continue to palmOne.com |
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PRODUCT REVIEW
The LibertyLink Docker wireless headset
By Dan Wolfson
Who needs Bluetooth? The LibertyLink Docker, a headset design by Aura Communications Inc., is a lightweight, affordable, wireless headset that works with most cellular and cordless phones -- and it's not Bluetooth. It uses a secure low-power technology called magnetic induction that provides excellent sound quality, privacy from eavesdropping, and amazing battery life with no AC adaptor needed. The spec sheet claims three hours of talk time for the headset, 25 hours of use per AA battery, and 3 months of standby time!
While testing this great gadget, I called several friends and all reported that my voice sounded clear and the connection was fine.
The battery indeed lasted for months (a great excuse for taking so long to finish my review [Uh, no, not really. -- Ed.]) and I never ran out of power while gabbing with my buddies. Performance was every bit as good as the wired headset for my cellphone, without the annoyance of dangling cords yanking the thing out of your ear in mid-sentence.
There are three pieces to the system: A base unit, headset and an adaptor cord. The base unit, shown in Figure A, holds one double-A battery which powers it and recharges the headset.
FIGURE A
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Here, the base unit is connected to a phone. Click picture for a larger image.
A colored LED indicates charging status and battery life. A push-button unlocks the headset from the base cradle. It comes with a belt clip and there is an optional button mount for aftermarket mechanical belt clips.
The adaptor coil cord has a standard 2.5mm 3-pin plug to the base unit. The other end plugs into the headset jack of a cell phone or cordless phone and different adaptor cords are available. Mine came with a 2.5mm on both ends and it works perfectly with my Kyocera 7135 SmartPhone, my cordless phones at home, and several other cellphones. The company claims you can also use this system through the sound card/microphone jack on some computers. Range is about four to six feet so you can't wander too far.
The rechargeable headset, shown in Figure B, has a noise-canceling boom microphone, earphone speaker, bendable rubber ear hook (adjustable for left or right ear) and two control buttons.
FIGURE B
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The headset is flexible as well as stylish. Click picture for a larger image.
You press the volume button to step through low, medium and high, or hold it down for two seconds for a volume boost setting for noisy environments. The flash button will start and end calls, depending on how your phone works. My phone has voice dialing so when I wear the headset, I just press the flash button and say "Call Bob" to make a call. The headset will beep if the power gets low.
Setup is simple. Clip the base to your belt, plug the cord into the base and into your phone, then put the headset on. The bendable earhook makes a snug fit so the headset won't go flying if you whip your head around to ogle that cute redhead. The earphone speaker fits just outside the ear canal, instead of inside like most earphones, and it is light and comfortable enough to wear for long periods.
Compared to the more expensive and power consuming Bluetooth radio technology, magnetic induction offers low-power, secure private conversations at about half the cost. As with some other electronic gear, one company makes the technology and chips, while others turn them into retail products. That's the case with the LibertyLink Docker, which was designed by Aura Communications Inc. Retail versions of the product are available from foneGEAR. Suggested retail price for the LibertyLink Docker (aka foneGEAR Cord Free Headset) is $74.99. It is available from http://www.fonegear.com. Closest competitor is the Jabra FreeSpeak which retails at $179, uses Bluetooth and requires an AC adaptor.
You can read all about magnetic induction on the manufacturer's site http://www.auracomm.com. If you are ready to cut the cord, I think you will enjoy the freedom and performance of the LibertyLink. Alexandar Graham Bell would be impressed!
OUR RATING: 4 of 5
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Dan Wolfson is a senior process analyst for Qwest Communications as well as a freelance writer and photographer in San Diego. His work has been published in Time, Life, USA Today and the South China Morning Post.
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COMPUTING UNPLUGGED NEWS CENTER
This week's news
Want to get the very latest mobile and wireless news? The Computing Unplugged News Center is updated every day with news of product releases, industry info, tips, techniques, and pointers to great mobile and wireless resources on the Web. Here's this week's news:
PalmSource teams up with RIM
PalmSource and Research In Motion made public their plans to collaborate on software that will allow handhelds based on the Palm operating system to use RIM's BlackBerry wireless service. The companies said in a statement that they plan to create an email application for Palm OS that will arrive in the latter half of 2004.
Qrio, the running robot
Sony said that it had developed the world's first running robot. According to ZDNet, Qrio, which until recently had been known as Sony's SDR robot entertaining crowds with fluid and funky dance motions, can now trot at a speed of 15 yards per minute.
palmOne reports earnings
palmOne reported revenue of $271.2 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2004, ended Nov. 28, up 5 percent from the $257.9 million reported during the second quarter a year ago. These results include effects of the Oct. 28 spin-off of PalmSource and the Oct. 29 acquisition of Handspring. Accordingly, palmOne results have two months of PalmSource results included in discontinued operations and one month of Handspring results included in income from continuing operations.
Slyder released for Pocket PC
PocketMind and Sandlot Games released Pocket PC version of the desktop PC game Slyder. The goal of the game is to help maneuver a ball named Slyder through a series of mazes using stylus or Pocket PC hardware keys. Slyder will slide until he hits a wall, so it is up to you to keep him from sliding off the map, down a pit, or into unfriendly characters.
Orsus and AirPrism announce partnership
Orsus Solutions and AirPrism announced an OEM partnership. As part of the partnership, the Software Deployment Module of the AirPrism Mobility Management Suite will be included in the recently announced Orsus Mobile Framework version 5.2 as a means of addressing the challenge of distributing and installing software updates, patches and content to remote workers a top concern of mobile enterprises.
Metrowerks releases tools for Symbian OS
Symbian OS developers now have a software analysis tool suite with the release of Metrowerks' CodeTEST Software Analysis Tools for Symbian OS. The suite offers accurate, detailed measurement analysis of applications running on Symbian OS development systems, including performance profiling, software trace, memory analysis and code coverage capabilities.
Synchrologic Mobile Suite 5.4
Synchrologic announces the general availability of Synchrologic Mobile Suite 5.4. Synchrologic Mobile Suite 5.4 offers Push Mobile, which is available for wireless devices including laptops and tablets as well as the newest handheld devices and backend data bases including Exchange, Domino, Oracle, Sybase, DB2, and SQL server.
Using Visual Basic
Here's an article from the Business Standard of India that says Visual Basic is like a giant vacuum because it can just as easily be used to write software for Windows as it can to automate Microsoft Office. The author used Visual Basic to create Macros for certain tasks in Outlook.
Disney launches DisneyMobile.com
Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) today launched its first comprehensive consumer Internet site devoted to its wireless content offerings. The site will provide consumers with information regarding Disney Mobile content offerings and purchases as well as product demonstrations. The site offers Disney Mobile information on the latest downloadable content for mobile phones, including games, graphics, ring tones, and Disney mobile greeting cards.
palmOne releases developer toolkit
palmOne announced the latest release of a developer toolkit that brings Java 2 Micro Edition support to Treo 600 smartphones and Tungsten handhelds. A beta of the new version of IBM's WebSphere Micro Environment Toolkit for Palm OS Developers, which includes a new high-performance runtime with support for the latest Java Community Process standards, was released to developers through the palmOne PluggedIn developer Web site.
IBM partners with Symbol
Symbol Technologies and IBM will collaborate on new wireless handheld and scanning solutions aimed at vertical markets including retail, public sector and travel. CRN reports that examples of joint solutions include Symbol's wireless mobile computers running IBM WebSphere Micro Edition, a Java-powered infrastructure for extending business applications, to use messaging via MQ Everyplace and enable users access to Siebel, SAP, J.D. Edwards or PeopleSoft applications and other databases.
View smartphone calls
MS Mobiles reports that if you use Microsoft Outlook, then Smart Journal may come in handy for you because it allows you to view phone calls that you received and initiated in your Microsoft smartphone.
Cubis for PDAs
Astraware Limited announces the release of its newest puzzle game for PDAs, Cubis, ported and published by Astraware, Cubis is a conversion of the popular next generation PC and Web puzzle game developed by US based FreshGames, LLC. Cubis is available for all Palm OS and Pocket PC handhelds from Astraware's Web site.
Wireless USB Flash Drive
SMC Networks announced the newest in its line of mobile computing products, the EZ Connect 2.4GHz 11Mbps Wireless USB Flash Drive. The new SMCWUSB32EZ Connect 2.4GHz 11Mbps Wireless USB Flash Drive combines wireless connectivity and storage in one USB device.
PalmGear expands into China
PalmGear announced their expansion into China with headquarters in Shanghai and offices in Beijing. PalmGear's expansion will bring software, eBooks and content to consumers and enterprise customers throughout China. The online store was fully developed in Beijing by PalmGear China.
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Copyright © 2003, ZATZ:Pure Internet Publishing, a unit of Component Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
Computing Unplugged is an independent publication of ZATZ:Pure Internet Publishing, a unit of Component Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Component Enterprises, Inc. ZATZ, the ZATZ logo, and Computing Unplugged are trademarks of ZATZ Publishing, a unit of Component Enterprises. All other brands and product names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective holders.
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