Mini-Review: Plantronics Voyager 855 Stereo Bluetooth

After much coveting of this unique bluetooth stereo headset, Amazon’s recent price drop has allowed me to purchase it. And I am way impressed.

This is a unique headset.  It starts as a standard bluetooth earpiece. And for phone calls it does a great job.  It has adaptive noise reduction and multipoint technology to connect to multiple phones.  7 hours of talk time and 160 hours of standby.

Where this product shines is its ability to stream audio via the A2DP protocol.  When connected to my iPhone 3GS, I can listen to podcasts and music through the single earpiece.  This is extremely convenient when you want to keep an open ear to hear your environment.

But it gets better.  Attach the secondary earbud, drape the light, cloth cable around the back of your neck and you’ve converted this earpiece into a full stereo headset.  There is a fit kit with 3 sizes of earpieces.  For me, the medium gels fit great and provide good sound isolation.  Since the secondary earbud and cable are so light, you can pop it out temporarily to hear your environment.

While this isn’t a full review, it covers the highlights.  Here comes the pros and cons.

Pros:

• Ultralight
• Versatile – A2DP in either mono or stereo
• Audio Quality – On par with my current favorite, the Motorola S9HD
• Inexpensive – I was able to purchase this headset for under $35 ($120 retail)

Cons:

• No hard case – Only a soft pouch (which doesn’t fit the charger)
• Micro USB Charger – Everything else I have uses Mini USB
• Doesn’t include a travel charger – Since it is Micro USB, I need to purchase one separately

That’s it for now.  If you have any questions, leave a comment.

Tags: Bluetooth, iPhone, Review, Stereo

Amazon releases Kindle for iPhone 1.0

Last night, Amazon released the much rumored Kindle for iPhone application.  Kindle for iPhone is a free application and is available now via the iTunes store.  The app utilizes Whispersync to keep your library, bookmarks, and current location in sync between your Kindle and iPhone.  Without digging too deep into the app, here is my quick take:

Pros:

• Large library of eBooks available from Amazon
• Whispersync – Stay in sync with your Kindle device
• Read first chapters of any book for free before you buy
• Adjust the text size, add bookmarks, and view the annotations you created on your Kindle device

Cons:

• Currently does not support newspapers or magazine subscriptions
• Cannot purchase books directly from the app, but must purchase on Amazon.com (from PC, Mac or iPhone) or a Kindle
• Does not support non-Amazon eBooks

Tags: Amazon, eBooks, iPhone, iTunes

Apple updates their desktop line and WiFi routers

This morning Apple Inc. updated the Mac Mini, iMac, Airport Extreme, and Time Capsule.  We’ve all seen the Photoshopped Mac Mini pictures with a billion USB ports but now we know that it has five.  The biggest updates for the desktop line are faster graphics cards, faster CPU’s and lower power consumption.

What interests me the most is the enhancements to the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule.  Apple has seperated the 802.11g and 802.11n into seperate channels.  This will allow each device on the network get the optimal speed without slowing up the network (iPhone at 802.11g and Apple TV at 802.11n).  They’ve also added a “guest” network that will provide a password protected, seperate WiFi network that doesn’t see your local network.  Very nice touches. At $499, Im seriously considering the 1TB Time Capsule.

Source: Apple

Tags: Airport, Airport Extreme, Apple, iMac, Mac, Mac Mini, Time Capsule, WiFi

Changed my Twitter handle back…

After a long hiautus on the blog I have some small news to start off with.  I’ve changed my Twitter handle back to “ScottMahan“.  Let’s see what else I can blog today .

Tags: Twitter

Looking for a Pownce invitation

In my search for a Pownce invitation, I came across this blog post: Free Pownce Invitation Giveaway.

I’m going to send the owner and email and I’ll let you know how it goes.

Digital TV Converter Coupons

On February 17, 2009 broadcast television will migrate from analog to digital transmission. What does this mean to you? If you use “rabbit ears” or a rooftop antenna for TV reception, you probably need a converter. All televisions sold now are required to have digital receivers, but if you are perfectly happy with your current TV or don’t have the money for a new one, what can you do? The NTIA will be offering each household two $40 coupons that can be used to purchase a digital to analog converter box. More information can be found on the NTIA’s website.