Bluetooth is technically a rather old technology and wireless headphones have really never taken off, yet they're becoming an increasingly popular topic on our forum. A lot of the reason for that is that it's becoming integrated into players, with the Samsung P3 and the Cowon S9 among the newest, most popular models to have this capability.

Most Bluetooth headphones are behind-the-neck style for some reason and there aren't many normal type Bluetooth headphones. The Sony DR-BT22 is an exception, with a form factor and size that really doesn't look like it's Bluetooth at first glance. The DR-BT22 are on their way out, which has dropped the price from a MSRP of $99 to a sales price of under $30 on Amazon, which means these are perfect for people who want to go wireless. But are they any good?

With netbooks becoming popular so fast over the last year, laptops are becoming more of an alternative to dedicated media devices for portable use. While they are still bigger than MP3 players, they now have battery life and pricing that makes them good choices. Having a netbook myself and also being a Bluetooth nut, I've been struggling to get stereo Bluetooth audio on my Acer Aspire One for months. Normal Bluetooth adapters are normally very unstable and the process is the least user friendly I can think of. The people at callpod knows this, and have released an amazing product called the callpod drone.

The drone is literally plug and play. It plugs into your computer, pairs with a headset, and works. It's main feature is Bluetooth audio, and so it uses a whole other kind of process to get things going than normal adapters. Read on for the full review.

Due to working in the forest with cable hating trees for a few weeks a few months ago I ended up with a cellphone with a broken headphone jack. This lead me to declare official war on wires and since then I have been all wireless when on the run.

Going all Bluetooth was certainly something I thought twice about before I started doing. The technology doesn't have that good a reputation and especially sound quality was rumoured to be rather bad. Since then I've tried a lot of Bluetooth devices, headphones and receivers - some of which have ended up on ABi as reviews. Read on for a full roundup on how the last few months of wireless life has been like, with all the pros and cons related to Bluetooth technology.

Most Bluetooth headphones have a neckband style design and there are few over the head style Bluetooth headphones out there. Even more rare are Bluetooth earbuds, as the technology simply won't fit inside such cramped space. JayBird have found a way to circumvent this problem with their JB-200 earbud hybrid.

The JB-200 is a combination of earclip style headphone and earbud with IEM style tips on them. It's extremely small for a Bluetooth headphone and is barely visible if you have any hair at all. How do these headphones hold up to the big clunky headphones with plenty of room for the tech needed? Read on to find out.

If you have a Bluetooth player you might have considered the option of going wireless at home. Freely moving around the room with your player as a very advanced music remote sure sounds good, but then there's the issue of sound quality. With Bluetooth receivers becoming more and more popular it's hard to keep track of what actually sounds good and whether or not to go for a cheap receiver from a no-name brand or more expensive models.

The Sony Ericsson MBR-100 falls into the latter category with a US MSRP of $79.99. Though made by a cell phone manufacturer it will work with any A2DP device and so is an option also for Bluetooth MP3 players. Is it really worth the extra money or will any $25 device do the same job? Read on for the full review.

Bluetooth used to be a thing that only cellphones had and stereo Bluetooth was even more exclusive. Now you get this on basically any phone out there and the technology has begun to be more present in MP3 players as well. Samsung can be said to be the pioneer in this area with by far the most Bluetooth equipped players, but other brands like Insignia, Sony, Cowon and others have started to incorporate this as well.

With my recent work related fallout with wired headphones (don't ask) and the purchase of a Sony A828 for it's Bluetooth capabilities, I needed a pair of Bluetooth headphones to go with it. After some research I ended up with the Jabra BT620s. The big question on my mind was how this would hold up to wired headphones both in stability and sound quality. Read on for the full review.

Sony recently started offering pre-orders for the NWZ-A820 in Europe. This player is now confirmed to hit the US in March along with two new models, the S710 and A720 Walkman players.

The NWZ-A720 is essentially the same player as the NWZ-A820, but lacks bluetooth support. It's also available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB, while the A820 only comes in 8Gb and 16GB. The A720 is priced at $150 (4GB), $200 (8GB) and $300 (16GB) and comes in black or pink, while the A820 will cost you $270 (8GB) and $320 (16GB) and only comes in black.

The NWZ-S710 is good news for those who commented on the lack of noise cancelling in the NWZ-A820. While this feature was removed from the US and European versions of the A820, it is in place in the smaller S710 series, and Sony claims it will help reduce outside noise by up to 75%. It will however not have the same design as the A720 and A820, and will only have a 1.8" screen compared to the 2.4" screen on the A720 and A820. It will be available in a $150 4GB version with 3 different colors, and a $200 8GB version which comes only in black. No 16GB version is announced.

[ Press Release ]

Sony just announced its new Walkman model, the NW-A820 (NWZ-820 in Europe/US). The player features a 2,4" 320x240 QVGA screen, noise canceling features, Bluetooth functionality, and sizes up to 16GB. The Asian version of the player will still have ATRAC playback and most likely be SonicStage dependent, while the European and US model will continue Sony's recent trend of MTP based players without ATRAC support, which of course is a good thing.

Sony also announced two accessories for the new player; the SRS-NWT10M external speaker, and the VRC-NW10 cradle. The cradle supports both video out and video in, which means you can record TV directly to the NW-A820 in MPEG-4 format. Whether or not this will work on the NWZ-A820 is not known, but fingers crossed that it will. The player will be available in Asia on March 20, release date for the rest of the world is unknown. Continue reading for picture frenzy.

[ Press Release via Engadget ]

Samsung had nothing new to show in terms of MP3 players, but I did find out from a Samsung rep that they will be releasing a 16GB version of the P2 sometime in Q1 of 08.

I did get a chance to check out the S5 which will replace the K5. It sounded just as good but slims down and gets a color screen and Bluetooth. This will actually make an interesting accessory for Bluetooth mobile phones being that it will give you a nice and loud speaker phone conferencing set up. The S5 is available now in the US in 4GB versions and can be picked up for around $180.

The other interesting portable audio accessory was the portable Bluetooth speakers, the BS300. It sounded a bit better than the speakers in the S5 and K5 from what I could tell over all the noise. It will tie into your Bluetooth MP3 player or operate as a speakerphone with its built in mic for your cellphone. It retails for $130.

I snapped a few pics at the booth- a bit blurry but still fun to look at.

As a growing number of portable devices are offering Bluetooth functions, Panasonic has enhanced the D-Snap SV-SD850N to offer A2DP, AVRCP, and HFP Bluetooth profiles. The SV-SD950N makes use of the missing corner of its controls as it implements a button which allows calls to be made and received when paired with a mobile phone. It is also possible to transferring files and transmitting audio to Bluetooth headphones or speakers.

The SV- SD950N still offers the same features as the previous model, including the 60 hour battery life, noise isolation, and storage relying completely on SD/SDHC cards. The additional Bluetooth capabilities do come at a price as the new model will sell for an equivalent of about $220.

[Press Release via Akihabara News]

When the Bluetooth-enabled PMP branded by Insignia, Best Buy's in-house brand, was first spotted in late January, availability was listed as "coming soon."

At some point between then and now (we couldn't say exactly when for sure), the 4GB NS-DVB4G has been given a "usually leaves our warehouse in 1 business day" designation and been priced at a pretty reasonable $160. The 2.4-ounce player has a 2.2-inch display (262K colors), microSD slot, and FM tuner with 20 presets; supports an impressive array of audio files (Ogg Vorbis included); and can play MPEG4 and WMV videos at up to 30 frames per second.

[Product Page via CrunchGear]

We were reporting a while back about the T9 Bluetooth player, but when it hit the shores of the US, Samsung had stripped the Bluetooth. Now the Bluetooth T9, appropriately dubbed T9B, will indeed be hitting the US come March and will retail for $159 for the 2GB and $209 for the 4GB. Both are about a $30 premium over the Bluetoothless T9s.

The T9B has more functionality than simply sending audio to Bluetooth headphones and speakers. The player will tie into any Bluetooth mobile phone. It works like this. Your phone is in your pocket and it rings. You look at your T9B to see who is calling. Pressing a button on the T9B picks up the call and pauses your tunes. With your phone still in your pocket, you speak to the T9B and hear out of the headphones, Bluetooth or otherwise. The microphone is sensitive enough to sit on the table so you don’t have to hold it up to your mouth and look like a fool talking to an MP3 player.

Samsung is on the ball; first the nano-competing Z5 and the innovative K5 with external speakers. Now Samsung will be the first major manufacturer to release a mass market Bluetooth MP3 player. We were first teased with early FCC photos and were unsure of when this wireless wonder would show up in stores. Now you can have one in your hands and fast as you can drive to the nearest Best Buy.

Lately the interfaces and GUI’s have been very clean on the Z5 and the K5, so you can probably expect the same from the T9. But really the focus on this player is Bluetooth functionality, where we will see wireless headphones, speakers, and hopefully car head unit connectivity. The player is reasonably priced at $150 and $200 for 2GB and 4GB respectively.

Update: Readers are reporting that Bluetooth will not be available in the US model. Cnet reports that and it is not shown on Best Buy's site. If this is the case, the T9 will be very dissappointing. Thank you all for the comments below.

[Best Buy - thanks Kisuke]

Check out these cool portable bluetooth speakers by BenQ-Siemens. They're compatible with any gadget that supports AD2P and AVRCP, which means that you can stream and control your music from up to 30 feet away. Imagine turning up the speaker volume in the living room from your cell phone in the bedroom!

Of course, if you're determined to get out of bed in the morning, the IMS100 also offers a 3.5mm audio jack that can be connected to just about any non-Bluetooth-enabled device out there, even a computer.

Measuring 7.09" x 3.15" x 1.57" and weighing about 9.5 oz., the speakers can run for about 6 hours on 4 AA batteries or indefinitely with the included power supply. The IMS100 is slated for release in August.

[BenQ-Siemens via Gizmodo]

One by one the A2DP audio centric Bluetooth devices are lining up for the yet-to-hit-the-mainstream Bluetooth compatible MP3 players. One such device, the X5 from Blue Ant, will set you back $140 MSRP but give you a decent set of features.

Connected to your MP3 player the phones will give you wireless music along with ear mounted controls. They will also work well with your favorite VOIP setup with a detachable microphone. The battery will last 12 and be rechargeable by USB. They are available now at Amazon and other fine online retailers.

[Blue Ant via ubergizmo]