Posts Tagged ‘bluetooth car kit’
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
A week ago I wrote an article on how to listen to your mobile phone’s music whilst in your car, going over the various options from FM transmitters, cassette adapters, and more sophisticated BlueTooth accessories.
I’ve just updated that article with a new product I’ve found, which is perhaps the most comprehensive and elegant package I’ve yet seen. The new addition is reprinted here for your convenience:
A Universal Solution: One Accessory to Rule Them All
Some accessories, instead of choosing one method of doing things and accept the tradeoffs that come with it, you can simply bundle as many options as you can into a single piece. Usually this turns into a rather cumbersome, multi-fangled monstrosity, but sometimes an unusually elegant design results. One instance of this is the Tunelink Auto from New Potato Technologies, which presents many of the same features as the TrailBlazer covered earlier but in a much neater package.
The idea of the TuneLink is to provide all of the options you’d want for an in-car connection with the absolute minimum of physical bulk. The TuneLink’s small chassis has a USB socket, 3.5mm stereo jack and plugs into the auxiliary power point. Instead of relying on physical controls, which necessitate plugging in your transmitter where you can reach it, the TuneLink instead opts for a wholly app-based approach, where you can select the FM transmission channel and access other controls through your phone itself after connecting over Bluetooth.
This means that the entire assembly can be left safely in a glove box or other niche area, oft-times next to the auxiliary power point and auxiliary stereo input. This elegant placement keeps the car clutter free, and built in features like automatic pairing whenever you turn on the engine mean you can keep it there indefinitely, instead of constantly having to plug and re-plug.
The TuneLink also features some other nice features, like a USB socket for charging and RDS capabilities so that the song title can show up on your car’s display. Of all the solutions listed, the TuneLink provides the most features in the most elegant package, making it a good choice particularly if you have a hidden-away auxiliary power supply.
Read More, Or Write Us Back!
Here’s the product page, with more information on TuneLink. If you’d like to read more on this topic, please have a look at the rest of the article.
If you have any questions or would like advice, please feel free to send me a message via the usual channels. Thanks for reading!
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Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
Jawbone have been firm favourites of ours for a while now, and despite the fact that they don’t come cheap they’re still top sellers – which just proves that this is the sort of quality that’s really worth the money! They’ve really outdone themselves with the Jawbone ERA, though, which sees a number of fantastic firsts for the company (and for Bluetooth headphones in general!)
Let’s take a look at what it’s got to offer…
It’s teeny-weeny
Stunningly small and startlingly stylish, the Jawbone ERA weighs just 10.2g and measures a miniscule 51.3 x 24.1 x 14.5 mm, making it small and light enough to use all day without getting earache.
It looks great
The ERA is a marvel of architecture, with a layered exterior and a sleekly textured finish. It’s available in four elegantly low-key colours: Midnight, Shadowbox, Smokescreen and Silver Lining.
It sounds great
The ERA has the largest and most powerful speaker of any Jawbone headset so far, measuring in at 25% larger than other models. It also offers high-quality, full-spectrum HD audio, so your caller’s mellifluous tones will be music to your ears! The ERA is the first Bluetooth headset to feature NoiseAssassin 3.0, a noise-cancelling technology that was originally developed by the military for use by helicopter pilots and tank controllers. So it can certainly handle a bit of background traffic noise!
It’s technologically advanced
This is the first headset to feature a built-in accelerometer and MotionX technology. Jawbone are in the process of developing a range of exciting motion-based apps for download via their MyTALK platform, and the first two have already been released: ShakeShake, which lets you go into pairing mode just by shaking the headset, and TapTap which lets you answer phone calls with just a tap.
Perfect for the car
Bluetooth headsets are a great way to stay safe whilst chatting on the road, and the Jawbone’s motion apps make it easy to take calls on the go. Team it with a USB car charger to make sure you stay powered up and in touch no matter where you are.
It’s a great fit for all
No matter what size your lug-holes are, Jawbone cater for you – the ERA comes with eight different size/shape earbuds and an optional binaural earloop, making them the perfect fit.
The Jawbone ERA is available over on the main site, along with many more Bluetooth accessories.
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Tags: Bluetooth, Bluetooth accessories, bluetooth car kit, Bluetooth car kits, Bluetooth earphones, bluetooth headphones, bluetooth headset, Bluetooth headsets, jawbone, Jawbone ERA, Jawbone headset, Jawbone headsets, usb car charger,
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Friday, February 18th, 2011
I had a prang in my car this week. Nothing too bad and not my fault so I am not having to pay but it is a nuisance. The one positive thing I can think of (besides no-one was hurt) is that the more I used the Clip and Talk Bluetooth car kit the more I grew to love it.
I'm more grateful to this little device than ever.
It has always been good for taking and receiving calls, but this week it came into it’s own. I have now had two different hire cars, and had to use my wife’s car once as well. The handsfree kit is great as I can move from car to car, and just take it with me. It clips onto the visor of whichever car I’m in and away we go. Pairing with my phone is simple and works straight away, and even when my wife was in the car with me, due to the multipoint technology her phone paired to it too, at the same time.
I think it was a bargain when I first bought it, and I love it all the more now. I am a big supporter of the law regarding driving whilst talking on the phone, and owning this car kit has allowed me to stay legal whilst changing from car to car, thank you Clip and Talk.
See what 621 of our customers think by reading the Clip and Talk reviews and why they awarded it 4.5/5 stars
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Plug and Play Bluetooth Car Kits are the safest and easiest way to use your phone in the car and the Clip and Talk Bluetooth Car Kit has always been a firm favourite with Mobile Fun customers. As technology has moved on, the Clip and Talk range has grown and there are now 3 different Clip and Talk Car Kits to choose from – the standard Clip and Talk V3, the Clip and Talk Slim & Lite and the Clip and Talk Solar Edition. On paper there doesn’t seem to be that many differences between them, so how do you know which is the best Clip and Talk car kit for you?
I’ve put this guide together to run through each of the Clip and Talk Car Kits to help you choose the one that’s right for you.
Clip and Talk Bluetooth Car Kit – V3
Now in it’s 3rd generation, this is the original Clip and Talk car kit. It offers extremely simple controls and can be used by anyone. Once you’ve paired the kit with your phone, it’s just one button press to answer/end calls and activate voice dialling (if your phone supports it). There are two large buttons for adjusting the volume, and a discreet mute button for times when you don’t want to be heard.
Clip and Talk Bluetooth Car Kit - V3
If you’re not technically minded, don’t worry, the Clip and Talk V3 doesn’t need any installation. Setting it up involves inserting the battery, clipping the kit to your sun visor and pairing it to your phone. You’ll be up and running in less than a minute.
Battery life on the Clip and Talk is excellent, it has up to 1080 hours of stand by (that’s 45 days!) and 16 hours of talk time. This means that unlike some kits, you’re not going to have to keep it plugged in to your cigarette lighter and have cables trailing across your dashboard.
The Clip and Talk V3 can be paired with up to 8 handsets, this means that if the car is used by several people each driver can use the kit without having to pair their phone with it each time they get in the car. You can only use one phone at a time with the kit though.
This kit is best suited to those who are using a car kit for the first time or that want a simple, straight forward way to answer calls safely and legally in the car.
Clip and Talk Bluetooth Car Kit – Slim And Lite
The Clip and Talk Slim & Lite is, as the name suggests, a slimmer, lighter version of the Clip and Talk. As well as the obvious size difference, the Slim & Lite also supports Multipoint. If you’ve not come across Multipoint before, it’s a way that a bluetooth device, such as a car kit, can communicate with two other devices (such as mobile phones) at the same time.
Clip and Talk Bluetooth Car Kit - Slim And Lite
Uses for Multipoint vary from device to device, but in a nutshell it means that you can have 2 phones connected to the same car kit at the same time. This way, it doesn’t matter which phone rings, the call can be answered quickly and easily on the car kit.
Battery life on the Slim & Lite is almost as good, with 1000 hours stand by and 5 hours talk time. (The talk time is reduced slightly because the kit is monitoring two phones instead of one.)
Controls are similar to, and just as easy to use as the ones on the standard Clip and Talk, with one button to answer/end calls and activate voice dialling.
The Clip and Talk Slim & Lite is the perfect choice for any one who carries two phones around with them – one for work, one for personal.
Clip and Talk Bluetooth Car Kit – Solar Edition
With everyone doing their bit to bring down emissions and reduce their power consumption, accessory manufacturers are looking for greener ways to power devices such as car kits. Solar power has been making an appearance in more and more mobile phone accessories over the last year or so and car kits are the most logical accessory to make use of it – especially as they spend most of their time in your windscreen.
Clip and Talk Bluetooth Car Kit - Solar Edition
The Clip and Talk Solar Edition is a very similar kit to the Slim & Lite, but with one big difference – a built in solar charging panel. Unlike the previous two kits that clip on to your visor, the Solar edition sticks to the inside of your windscreen and uses the power of the sun to recharge it’s battery – completely eliminating the need for a regular charger.
The kit takes 18 hours to charge using sunlight, but does come with a Micro USB car charger if you want a faster charge or are using it at night. Using solar power you get unlimited standby time and up to 13 hours talk time. Unlike the other two kits here, it doesn’t fit on your sun visor, instead uses a suction mount to place it in your windscreen.
Controls are as easy as the other two Clip and Talk car kits, and as with the Slim & Lite it supports Mulitpoint, allowing you to use two phones at the same time.
We recently reviewed this kit on the blog, if you want to see well it performed, read the Clip and Talk Solar Edition review.
Summary
In terms of call quality and usability, there isn’t much between the three kits. Personally I’d opt for the Clip and Talk Solar. Multipoint is worthwhile feature and the fact that you never need to charge it is extremely appealing as it means that the cigarette lighter is free to charge my phone or iPod. Not being mounted on the sun visor is a bonus too as it means that you can continue to use the kit (and be heard) even with the visor down.
If you’ve used any of the Clip and Talk Car Kit’s let us know what you think using the comments form below.
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Monday, September 7th, 2009
If you spend a reasonable amount of time in the car use your phone for calls, listening to music or for GPS Navigation while you’re driving, then a hands free car kit is essential. Over recent years, the number of ‘self install’ or ‘plug and play’ car kits available has increased considerably, but while they may be a great low cost, portable solution, they can’t compete with the audio quality, ease of use and reliability of a fully installed car kit that is integrated with your vehicle.
In the earlier days of mobile phones, the King of the Car Kits was the Nokia CARK-91, almost every fleet car had one fitted but then along came Bluetooth, changing Car Kits forever. You no longer needed bulky cradles or holders attached to your dashboards, external aerials and speakers became unnecessary and car kits started to get smarter.
Modern Bluetooth car kits can do much more than just play your calls through a speaker. Car kits can now route audio from your calls through your car stereo without the need for adapters or extra cables, play music from your phone through the stereo, store your phonebook, add voice dialling capabilities, connect to MP3 players and Sat Nav units and much more. Bluetooth car kits are more flexible too, they work with any make of handset, where as older car kits with cradles generally only work with just one manufacturer – THB car kits being the only exception to this.
To help make choosing the right professionally installed car kit a bit easier for you, I’ve been through our range of car kits and listed 5 of the best below.
Nokia CK-300
The Nokia CK-300 is a mid-range Bluetooth car kit from Nokia and with the right phone can be a very powerful accessory. All you see on your dashboard is a small remote control that has a rotating dial and 4 well spaced buttons which make it extremely easy to use. The CK-300 is designed to work best with Nokia S60 handsets (N-Series and E-Series). On it’s own, it can connect to your phone to answer and end calls, stream music in stereo over bluetooth and can also be connected to any music player that has a 3.5mm headphone socket.
Nokia CK-300 Bluetooth Car Kit
To really make the most of the kit though, you can download and install the Nokia Car Menu Application which will then make your phone an integral part of the car kit. You can use the remote control on the car kit to access pretty most of the main applications on your phone, including the phone book, email inbox, music library, Nokia Maps, call logs and settings. If your phone supports it, you can then get the car kit to read out text messages and emails while you’re driving using text to speech technology.
Installation of the car kit has been improved too. It no longer needs to be wired into the ignition of your car as a built in motion sensor will turn the kit on when the car is moving. It’s a neater installation too as there is no external speaker on the CK-300 – it connects directly to the back of your car stereo and plays all audio through your existing speakers (Non ISO car stereos may require an extra cable). Nokia handsets with a 2mm charging port can be charged from the car kit as it has a 2mm charging cable, other handsets will need a separate car charger. If you want to know more about the CK-300 I covered this kit in detail on my post a couple of weeks ago when I wrote my guide to Nokia Car Kits.
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Tags: best car kit, bluetooth car kit, car kit fitting, car kit with holder, motorola hf-850, nokia car menu, nokia ck-300, parrot mki9000, parrot rki8400, thb bury system 8 car kit,
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