Altec Lansing BackBeat 903 wireless headphones

The era of stereo Bluetooth is upon us. While A2DP - essentially the part of Bluetooth that enables stereo transmission of audio - has been around for years, it’s taken Apple two years to get off its duff and add it to the iPhone Bluetooth stack and, me being an iPhone LUVR, it took me that long to actually pay attention to A2DP. I’ve tested wireless Bluetooth headsets before but most of them made me look like Lobot from Cloud City.

The BackBeats are the first pair of Bluetooth stereo headphones that are actually worth looking at. They weigh almost nothing - one ounce - and pair with almost any A2DP compatible phone. The 906 model comes with a Bluetooth adaptor and costs $129.95 while this pair costs $99.95.

These things are delightfully small. You can put them on and forget you’re wearing them. They have adjustable earpieces along with bulbous buds that fit right into your ear for maximum noise prevention. You can control playback, volume, and pick- and hang-up the phone with buttons on the side.

The frequency response is 80 Hz - 12 kHz and I found these headphones to be on par with better earbuds I’ve used. The over-the-ear form factor, however, meant that I did deal with a little separation between the bud and the ear at times, reducing the volume and clarity. A quick fix is all that’s needed to move things back into place.

These are the closest I’ve ever come to the ultimate pair of earbuds. Altec Lansing makes great audio gear and these are small enough - and cool enough - to wear on the subway or during a workout. Sadly, my ultimate earbuds would be as small as peas and simply slip into the ear permanently, directly controlling my auditory system through the use of magic and lasers. Seeing as how Altec Lansing has no patents on magic or lasers, these will have to do.

Bottom Line

If you’ve avoided A2DP wireless headphones thus far, stop. These are a great pair and well worth the $99, especially if you plan to use them for workouts or just strolling about town. These are the best Bluetooth headphones I’ve seen in a few years.

Toshiba TG01

NTT DoCoMo and Telefonica are planning to roll out Toshiba TG01 Windows Mobile handset. The handset will respectively be landed in Japanese and Spanish markets. NTT Docomo is expected to encompass the handset in its DoCoMo PRO series T-01A.

A 9.9mm slim handset, TG01 comes bundled with 4.1-inch WVGA touchscreen display, microSD slot that can be expanded around 32GB, 10.2 Mbps HSDPA, custom Tosh 3D GUI,  GPS and backs up WiFi 802.11b/g.

DoCoMo Senior VP and Product Department Managing Director Kiyohito Nagata, was quoted as saying that DoCoMo has plans to work with global operators like Telefonica to together expand apps and mobile services for mutually enhanced global competitiveness. Simultaneously, we will be delighted if such attempts come with the additional effect of backing Japanese cell phone producers with a view to expanding handset sales overseas.

Luis Ezcurra, Manager of Handsets and Multimedia of Telefonica Espana, was quoted as saying, “Operating system platforms are getting increasingly vital to drive the incredible growth of mobile internet business. DoCoMo, Telefonica lead in their respective markets and this seems to be a great time to embed their customers with best-in-class solutions and products.

So, if you are on the lookout for multi-purpose, stylish touch-panel mobile handset, this is the best-of-the-breed handset that will meet all your needs. Either of the companies, NTT DoCoMo and Telefonica are simultaneously looking for new unique features to boost the handset’s utility.

As its reviews, the Toshiba TG01 Windows Mobile handset is slated to be rolled out between June and July, this year, say Telefonica and NTT Docomo. As to its pricing information, there is no word up till now.

The mobile world is not just crammed with latest and greatest objects, but with the new-born companies as well. All of them want to make a niche in the gung ho market today.

BlackBerry Tour 9630

The battle among the Smartphone makers to compete in the market gets stiffer as the Research In Motion, company which manufactures Blackberry handsets have announced the launch of their new Blackberry Tour model this summer. Prior to this announcement the Apple had stated that they would roll out their new iPhone 3GS model very soon and the Palm Pre was launched on June 6. The main aspect of this new Blackberry Tour 9630 model is that it is capable of enabling transition among various mobile networks which is operated outside the North American continent. This feature is a strategic move which makes it possible for this company to divert the customer's focus away from the Apple's iPhone 3GS buzz.

 

The new Blackberry Tour model will be available for the users of the Verizon and the Sprint networks from this summer. The current version of Blackberry 8830, the only phone allowing the users to access different networks is almost two years old. In order to provide the customers of the Sprint and the Verizon with the updated mobile features to keep up the new trends and the expectations of the mobile users, the new Blackberry Tour model will be a big respite for all of them.

This new model will benefit large number of the international travelers due to its compatibility with the other foreign networks. The need for mobile which is capable of achieving very good web connectivity is of great demand among the mobile users, keeping this point in the fray; the new Blackberry tour model has come with an exquisite range of features which will provide seamless access to the net connectivity with the incorporation of the latest of all the big technologies.

The other big thing about this new Blackberry model is that it has given great importance to the design and the ergonomic aspect of the keyboard. This product has all the capabilities to compete with the Apple iPhone 3GS and very stay in contention to be one of the best producers of the handsets and to maintain their reputation. The media and the other multimedia features of the new Blackberry models is stated to be given a big boost due to the various new features which has been stuffed into this handset. The mobile analysts have termed this new Blackberry Tour model to be very much superior in the video and the music aspect when compared to the previous models of Blackberry Curve and the Blackberry Bold. Similar to the previous two Blackberry models, the new model comes with a GPS facility and a 3.2 Mega pixel camera. The model also features a 3.5 mm audio jack and the microSD card is required to record the video contents. The synchronization facility is also available to copy the music from the iTunes and the windows media player.

The chief executive of the Research In Motion stated the new model will be useful in trapping the mobile customers who are looking to upgrade their existing cell pone into a smart phone which is filled with features supporting the wireless access.

The physical characteristics of this new Blackberry model are also very appealing. The display when measured diagonally is 2.44 inches. The standout feature of this mobile is believed to be the resolution of the display screen, which is far ahead than the previous versions of the Blackberry. The dimensions of the mobile is 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches (length x breadth x thickness). The external memory can be used to store 16 GB of data with the help of the memory card, which sums it to 32 GB of total storage space, not bad at all.

The network operator Sprint Nextel has stated that the new Blackberry model will sell at $199.99, which includes the two year contract and also rebates. The sale of the various Smartphone is sure to increase this year due to the growing competition which has lead to tremendous fall in the price of the Smartphone handsets. The Apple had announced that their new iPhone 3GS will be out for sale from Friday.

An analyst stated that he expects Verizon to start selling the new Blackberry model from mid-July period. It is also expected that the Blackberry will be selling as much as four hundred thousand to six hundred thousand handsets within the month of the August.

The date for the launch of this new model was not disclosed by the RIM authorities and the Blackberry will be available in Canada through the BCE and the Telus.

There are many customers of the Verizon and the Sprint who wish to have a mobile handset with better equipped operating systems. The new Blackberry Tour model is developed to satisfy the requirements' of all those customers.

HTC Hero hands-on

You’ve seen the press release, now for the hands-on shots.  We’ve just grabbed some time with the HTC Hero, and even a sneaky opportunity to compare it with the HTC Magic.  Check out the full gallery after the cut.

In the hand, the Hero feels slimmer than the Magic, not least because of the bevelled edge. The HTC rep we talked to wasn’t sure whether the pre-production handset you see here has the Teflon back coating or not; it doesn’t feel especially different to a normal matte-finish panel.  The fingerprint-resistant screen is, as you’ll see in the shots, not particularly good at avoiding smudges in the first place, but like the iPhone 3GS it sheds them with a quick wipe.

In use, HTC’s new Sense UI is reminiscent of TouchFLO 3D – some of the toggle buttons are very similar – but with an Android edge to it.  It’s too early to say what level of improvement there is over a standard Android build, but the new widgets for Facebook, Twitter and the like do bring often-used functionality to the fore.

Nintendo Wii

• 

  The Nintendo Wii is a video game console designed and produced byNintendo. It is the 7th console made by Nintendo, preceded by theGameCube. Though the Wii does not have the graphic-rendering or High Definition capabilities of its competitors PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it features motion-sensing controllers called Wiimotes that allow for a great deal more natural motion while playing than conventional button-based controllers. Though its competitors are gaining market share, the Wii remains the most popular console in term of worldwide sales.

  On January 15, 2009, YouTube announced that their video service will be streamable through the Nintendo Wii gaming console.¹

• Fast Facts

  1. Maker: Nintendo
  2. Generation: 7th
  3. Debut: November 19, 2006
  4. Code name: Nintendo Revolution
  5. Backward Compatible
  6. 6.8M sold as of May 2007
  7. Online: Nintendo Wi-Fi
  8. Top-seller: Wii Sports
  9. Predecessor: Nintendo GameCube
  10. Connectivity: USB, Bluetooth
  11. Controller input: Wii Remote
  12. Customer Support: 1-800-255-3700

• Why Wii?

  A persistent question about the console relates to the origin of its name. Prior to the console's launch, many industry insiders and inquisitive gamers were under the impression that the console would be called Revolution. Ultimately, Nintendo opted for the name Wii for two major reasons. The first is that Wii emphasizes the console's impressive wireless capabilities: it can connect to home networks wirelessly, and the controllers are also wireless. The second reason is that Wii illustrates the group gaming capabilities of the console: many games for it support multiple players, and an early marketing campaign showed two roving Nintendo executives carrying a Wiimote while posing the question, "can we play?"

• Accessories

  1. Wii Airplane Controller Stand
  2. Wii Balance Board
  3. Wii Perfect Shot Gun
  4. Wii Shark Gun
  5. Wii Tracker
  6. Wii Wheel
  7. Wii Zapper
  8. WiiPhone
  9. Wiimote Weapon Kit