May 6 - 11:25am EDT   Parrot on Tuesday announced the latest addition to its range of digital photo frames with one designed by French artist Andrée Putman. The near six-inch screen is framed with contrasting black and white tones with subtle transparency. Transferring photos, in typical Parrot fashion, can be done wirelessly thanks to the frame's integrated Bluetooth connectivity. The frame also kicks off the wireless mobile telephony device maker's Designer Collection of products. [full story]

April 21 - 7:25pm EDT   Promate on Monday unveiled a universal laptop back-up battery it calls the ProBattery as well as solar-powered Bluetooth car kit. The company, which makes electronics accessories that range from protective screen films for PDAs to external media drives, promises to keep laptops running for up to eight hours. To make it compatible with a wide variety of laptops, the 6600mAh Lithium Polymer battery uses a selectable 5V, 16V or 19V power output and 15 modular notebook connectors. [full story]

April 14 - 1:10pm EDT   An English company says it has demonstrated a new Bluetooth technology, one which could dramatically affect future implementations. CSR's Ultra-Low Power (ULP) Bluetooth hardware is claimed to be up to 50 times faster than what is currently available; rather than send out more data, however, a ULP chip merely consumes 1/50th the power in transfer, and 1/10th the amount in making the initial connection. It is also possible to implement ULP alongside Bluetooth 2.1 in a dual-mode radio. [full story]

April 11 - 10:30am EDT   Apple has a released a new update for the MacBook Air, specifically addressing the notebook's Bluetooth wireless technology. Unlike most updates from Apple, there is no information on what the new one improves or fixes; the company will only say that it "should be installed on all MacBook Air Systems." The patch is a 1.2MB download, and requires Mac OS X 10.5.1 or higher; it can be downloaded automatically through Software Update, or installed manually following a web download. [full story]

April 4 - 8:10pm EDT   USBfever today unveiled three new products for the iPhone and iPod: a Bluetooth stereo dongle, an iPhone stone-grain silicone case, and an iPhone car charger with an included dashboard mount. Rather than transferring audio over common FM frequencies – which can be problematic in high-density residential areas – the Bluetooth dongle transfers stereo A2DP signals to a music system. The Bluetooth adapter is available for $30. [full story]

April 1 - 10:10pm EDT   Sprint today unveiled the LG LX 400, Motorola V950, and Samsung Z400/Z700 series phones, rounding off a landslide of announcements from the carrier at the CTIA Wireless 2008 Conference [1|2|3|4|5|6|7]. The LG LX 400 features a 1.77-inch main display, and works on both 1900 and 800MHz frequencies. It also features Sprint's Direct Connect push-to-talk network, as well as several multimedia communications options such as PCS Picture Mail, text, voice messaging, and email. Bluetooth connectivity and a 1.3-megapixel camera are also included. [full story]

April 1 - 12:15pm EDT   Plantronics on Tuesday unveiled the Discovery 925 Bluetooth headset at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas. With the new 925 line, Plantronics hopes to appeal to style-conscious men and women. Noteworthy features include AudioIQ, a noise reduction technology, as well as a carrying case that charges the headset. [full story]

April 1 - 10:20am EDT   GN on Tuesday announced its newest Jabra headset, the BT4010, which is a Bluetooth headset with an integrated LCD display. What the company calls a Smart Display, the small LCD provides information on the headset's battery charge level as well as connection and call status. In addition, the BT4010 has an auto-pairing feature via its Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR specification. [full story]

March 27 - 11:40pm EDT   Forum roundup: MacNN forum goers have compiled a list of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard tips and tricks. The list includes adding Bluetooth devices, customizing the 3D dock, enabling double-finger right clicks on MacBook computers, among others. Some users have also contributed tips for several Apple applications, such as enabling debugging and the tab bar in Safari, in addition to several other hints about Mac OS X services such as Dashboard. [full story]

March 24 - 11:25am EDT   After some delay, iLuv has announced that it is finally shipping its i399 iPod speaker dock. The system produces 45W of RMS output across 2.1 channels, and can both play and charge an iPod at the same time; "most dockable iPods" are supported, excluding those of the first three generations. The Shuffle and other sound sources are supported through an auxiliary 3.5mm input, and an integrated FM tuner supports up to 20 presets. [full story]

March 20 - 12:30pm EDT   Alongside projection technology, another Apple invention revealed today by the US Patent and Trademark Office centers on the concept of wireless pairing. The patent notes that while many wireless devices -- namely those equipped with Bluetooth, like the iPhone -- require manual pairing to avoid interfering with others, the process itself can be somewhat cumbersome. This involves entering a PIN code, which must first be discovered in a manual, and then entered on an interface which is not always easy to use. [full story]

March 8 - 5:25pm EST   Apple recently won eight iF Product Design Awards at the CeBIT 2008 show in Hanover, Germany, out of nine products that were submitted for consideration. Out of 2771 products shown at the conference, 821 of them were considered for the awards, according to SetteB.IT. Apple's iPod nano, Classic, and Touch were among the winners, as well as the iPhone and Bluetooth headset. The standard USB and Bluetooth keyboards, and Apple's aluminum iMac also won accolades. [full story]

February 29 - 12:20pm EST   New versions of Aliph's popular self-titled Bluetooth headset have been released, according to an announcement. By default, Jawbones are available in grill-shaped red, silver or black designs; celebrity designer Yves Behar, however, has helped fashion three new models, part of a "very" limited-edition run. The Sweet Talk Jawbone is gold-tinted, and has a small floral etching. The Trash Talk headset is white, and has a "censored" expletive on its side; the Dirty Talk model is all-black meanwhile, and is engraved with a woman's silhouette. [full story]

February 22 - 11:05am EST   iPodHackers.net today announced the completion of a Bluetooth-enabled fifth generation iPod with video, allowing it to function with streaming Bluetooth audio devices. The hack requires the use of soldering, so enthusiast Fstedie recommends that users be comfortable taking such an action. He also recommends performing a Compact Flash modification or using a thicker backing, giving the user extra space inside the slender unit to pull off the hack. [full story]

January 14 - 5:30pm EST   Scosche Industries has unveiled a slew of new iPod and iPhone related accessories ahead of the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. First up is a line of new cases for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod classic. High impact polycarbonate, flexible silicone, lightweight neoprene, anodized aluminum and military grade camouflage are used in the cases, which all feature shock protection, all button/input access and screen protection, Scosche's IPC4 clear polycarbonate case for the iPhone and ITC4 clear polycarbonate case for iPod touch have integrated kickstands and feature co-molded rubber corners for shock protection. Additional cases include a black polycarbonate ... [full story]