Parrot speakers join the Bluetooth preview band
With its new "Party, Black Edition" portable speaker system, Parrot joined a pack of other vendors last week in previewing upcoming Bluetooth products slated to be sold to consumers during the 2008 December holiday season.
NEW YORK CITY (BetaNews) - At New York City's Tavern on the Green, the indoor-and-outdoor setting for the Bluetooth SIG's annual pre-holiday event, it was hard to believe that the cold and possibly snowy days of December are only six months away now.
Outside in the courtyard of at popular restaurant and function hall in Central Park, Ford Motors displayed a Microsoft Sync-enabled car and Vroop gave glimpses of LiveBoard, its Bluetooth-based "digital baseball scoreboard" -- geared to letting you know at a glance whether your team is winning, no matter where you happen to be at the moment (including your office, maybe?).
A PR rep for Ford showed reporters Sync's new and more capable remote control panel, which has now moved from below the driver seat's window to a more spacious location higher up on the car.
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| A representative from Ford Motor Company demonstrated a Bluetooth-enabled vehicle with a relocated remote control. |
Meanwhile, in the air-conditioned comfort of Inside a stained glass-embellished room, Parrot and a couple of dozen other companies showed off Bluetooth-enabled gadgets and gizmos that ran the gamut from speakers, headsets, and phones to musically enabled alarm clocks and Bluetooth-controllable picture frames.
Parrot was assigned by the SIG to a spot right next to a door leading out to a flowery and Japanese lantern-bedecked courtyard. , Parrot demo'd the new Party A2DP systems, a gift seemingly ideal for Bluetooth-aware consumers planning football tailgate parties, or any other gatherings outside the reach of ordinary speakers.
Scheduled for availability some time in the third quarter, the speaker system is billed as enhancing audio streamed in over Bluetooth. Features include a demo mode, 3.5mm jack input, and battery life of eight to ten hours, with rechargeability in just two-and-a-half hours.
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| Here's a portable enhanced audio system where superb quality sound is streamed in over Bluetooth. |
Spokespeople in the Parrot booth told BetaNews that, for its Bluetooth 2.0-enabled speakers, Parrot has incorporated Near Field Communications (NFC), for smoothing the otherwise cumbersome process of "pairing," or setting up links between Bluetooth devices.
As previously reported in BetaNews, also during this tenth anniversary Bluetooth bash, LG and Verizon Wireless unveiled the Decoy Slider phone, and Polaroid previewed the PoGo portable printer for instant digital photo printouts.