HTC's latest flagship phone, the U11, has proven itself to be one of the top Android device releases of the year with impressive specs and design, useful features, and a great camera — and soon it's going to get even better. HTC has revealed that U11 was just certified for the Bluetooth 5.0 standard, and that users will be able to take advantage of its improved speeds once Android O is released.
Bluetooth tracker Tile has spawned a new, Tile Pro series, promising double the range and a generally more-unmissable alert for your lost keys. The new Tile Style and Tile Sport each increase the distance they'll work from your smartphone to up to 200 feet, twice what the previous Tile Mate and Tile Slim could manage. Meanwhile, there's the promise of greater resilience to the elements, too.
Losing battery in the middle of using a device is already exasperating. But not knowing when you might actually lose battery is especially infuriating. That’s why phones and laptops have battery indicators, inaccurate as they may be, to at least give users a clue when it’s time to start scrambling for a charger. Bluetooth accessories, on the other hand, are a different matter. Fortunately, Android might, in the near future, finally get a status indicator showing just how much battery your speaker or keyboard has left before it cuts your conversation or your productivity short.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could get new hardware features without actually having to get new hardware? That does seem to be the magic that HTC is weaving in a leaked letter from the Taiwanese manufacturer to the US FCC regarding Bluetooth on its HTC U11 flagship. According to the letter, HTC will enable Bluetooth 5 on the HTC U11 but it will do nothing more than release a software update. No hardware changes required.
As the song goes, if you like your smartphone you should put a ring on it. In a sense, ORII does that, but in the opposite direction. It practically puts your smartphone in a ring that, in turn, you do put on your finger. But this is no Bluetooth controller for your smartphone. This is, instead, a Bluetooth “headset” you wear on your finger that lets you take and make calls by simply placing your finger on your ear. And, yes, you’ll look crazy while doing so.
Atari seems to be a very busy company at the moment. Not only did it recently unveil its new Ataribox console, but it's also breaking into the world of apparel. Say hello to the Atari Speakerhat, the perfect head accessory for nearly anyone who has accepted that absurdity is now the norm on this wonderful planet of ours.
You might associate Bluetooth with cutting the cable between your headphones and your phone, but Bluetooth Mesh aims to make it a ubiquitous backchannel for the Internet of Things. Launched today, Bluetooth Mesh is a way that low-energy radios can build many-to-many (m:m) links between devices, evolving to encompass new gadgets, temporary blackouts, and more. Initially, it's setting its sights on the lucrative smart lighting segment.
Flic buttons were already kind of an IoT lover's dream, but now the company behind them wants to try making them better. When Flic buttons first launched two years ago, they needed to be paired with a smartphone app. Obviously, needing to own a smartphone isn't much of a barrier to entry these days, but the new Flic Hub wants to free you from the app requirement all the same.
The TrackR pixel Bluetooth dongle revealed back during CES 2017 is now available to order in the United States. According to TrackR, the pixel is the lightest weight Bluetooth product on the market, clocking in with a depth of just 5mm and a weight of 5.67 grams. The dongle, like ones before it, is round in shape, but with colorful options alongside the built-in tracking technology.
While many are looking towards virtual, augmented, and mixed realities as the next big wave in computing, there is already one that is also silently making waves in our modern lives.Some have nicknamed it the "Fourth Platform", the contextual computing that permeates virtual personal assistants like Siri, Cortana, or Google Assistant. Despite being controlled by voice, these assistants are usually inconveniently found in smartphones that we have to take out or speakers that we can't take with us. That is why Bragi, a leading wireless headphone maker, and Starkey, a leader in the hearing aid business, have banded together to bring the Dash Pro tailored by Starkey, as well as the plain Dash Pro, offering a truly hands-free wireless ear computing experience that can also be personalized to fit your ear.
Apple's new 9.7-inch iPad is resolutely targeted at those wanting to ditch their laptop for something easier to carry, and Logitech thinks it has the perfect keyboard companion. The Logitech Slim Folio keyboard case promises more notebook-like text entry for the iOS tablet, complete with a magnetic locking mechanism for more flexibility in where you use your tablet, not to mention impressive battery life.
Google has a new pair of Bluetooth (wireless) headphones coming and we've got the full specs for you well ahead of release. While we don't expect these headphones to be mind-blowing by any means, it's interesting to see how Google has more than one way of revealing or choosing not to reveal products in early testing. In this case, it would seem like Google didn't make quite as big an effort to conceal what they're about to release due to the relative small amount of market-wide impact they're going to have.
