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Australian IT: British microchip designer CSR plans to make an all-in-one GPS and Bluetooth chip for mobile gadgets.

CSR chief executive John Scarisbrick told reporters the super-sensitive technology would be far more effective than traditional GPS and could be used indoors.

The chips would also drain less power and be cheaper for handset makers than having two separate chips in their devices.

The benefit comes from loading software for the two technologies onto a separate chip and making the one processor do all the work.

It is also likely to open up new a host of new uses for phones and mobile gadgets such as allowing worried parents to track children and giving emergency services a way of locating casualties.

Mr Scarisbrick said its combined GPS and Bluetooth chip would cost manufacturers an extra $US1 per chip as opposed to around $US5-$US10 for a standalone GPS chip.

He said mobile handset makers had already expressed interest.

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Engadget: Here is Clarion’s new “semiconductor car stereo”; an in-car stereo with “no moving parts,” which means you won’t find an optical drive or HDD in here.

The single-DIN FB275BT instead receives music care of the SD slot (unfortunately, no SDHC support was mentioned) behind the front white panel or over Bluetooth, and pumps out the tunes with its 50-watt x 4 internal amplifier.

Aside from also boasting handsfree connectivity with your mobile, it features an FM tuner (no AM), two-line LCD display, rear auxiliary input for your DAP of choice, two-channel RCA output, and a modest assortment of equalizer / bass boost presets.

The faceplate boasts eight large, curved buttons as a part of Clarion’s HMI (Human Machine Interface), which reportedly seeks to “minimizes the number of buttons while maximizing functionality,” and plenty of indirect lighting. Retail is around €190.

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DotGizmo: Garmin has released a software download, which will allow many of their sat nav products to link to your Bluetooth mobile and read out any text messages you receive whilst you’re on the road.

It’s completely free, works with the nüvi 660, 360 and 360T as well as the StreetPilot c550 and comes on top of the other stuff they have, like an MP3 and audio book player, JPEG picture viewer, travel alarm and currency converter.

There’s also additional language packs for when you’re abroad, making it oh so much more than a sat nav.

The free download is available from Garmin’s support site at www.garmin.com/support/, and a list of compatible mobile phones can be viewed at www.garmin.com/bluetooth/phones.jsp.

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The Red Ferret Journal: BluScreen is a real life ‘Minority Report’ type concept application which will beam advertising at us based on preferences stored in our Bluetooth enabled mobile phones.

The idea is that we set a preference saying that we like, say, MP3 players and receive a ‘reward’ of a discount if we accept a personalised advert beamed at us any time we pass a relevant shop window display.

It’s quite interesting actually, and takes targeted advertising to a whole new level.

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Wired: At a CES preview event the other night, where companies showed off some of the stuff they’ll be unveiling next year, I noticed one product that doesn’t sound too sexy initially, but could become a hot trend in coming years: a car kit that can be used to add Bluetooth A2DP to your car stereo, called the Parrot MK6000 ($240, about 185 euro).

(more…)

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NewLaunches.com: Acoustic Energy and Orange have teamed up to let you hear amplified and excellent quality music from your Bluetooth enabled PDA, mobile phone, MP3 player etc.

Using Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) technology to enhance audio coverage over a Bluetooth network, the speaker also provides with a rear panel for input that enable you to connect even non-Bluetooth devices to it.

There are many such speakers already existing in the markets. But the 20 watt amplifier in this set makes it stand out from the others.

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ZDNet: Nokia has unveiled a new short-range wireless connection that is smaller and more energy-efficient than current Bluetooth technology.  The new radio technology, dubbed “Wibree,” can work alongside Bluetooth short-range wireless connections but use just a fraction of the power.

Nokia said it had worked for five years to develop the technology and would put it through a standardization process along with a number of other wireless technology firms. 

Like Bluetooth, Wibree provides a radio link of up to 10 meters (30 feet) between devices.

Because of their small size and low energy consumption, Wibree radio chips will make it possible and efficient to connect phones and other electronics devices to low-power watches or sports sensors and health monitors.

Nokia said it expected the first commercial version of the standard to be available during the second quarter of next year, while products using the technology should follow soon after that.

While Bluetooth is looking for ultra-high frequencies above 6 gigahertz for new faster connections, Wibree will operate in the 2.4 gigahertz band.

Nokia expects devices currently connected by Bluetooth will get a dual Bluetooth-Wibree chip, while devices that are currently not connected will use a Wibree-only chip.

Wibree technology would eventually add a few cents on top of current prices for Bluetooth chips.

Global sales of Bluetooth chips are expected to be between 500 million and 550 million units in 2006, up from 317 million in 2005, according to market leader CSR. Bluetooth technology was invented by Ericsson in the 1990s and subsequently given away to the market as an open standard.

See official Wibree website.

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Gizmondo: Samsung’s new range of MP3 players will debut - not in Europe or the USA – but in China.  The YP-T9 and the YP-T9B (which may mean it’s Bluetooth enabled) should support MP3, WMA, OGG, ASF, AVI, MPEG-4, RMVB (a format that’s very popular in China), and WMV.

They get around 30 hours battery life for audio and 6 for video, which is not bad for such a small-sized player. No price or other availability information yet, but if you really want one, Shanghai is nice this time of year.

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