Gizmodo: bluetooth adapter

This Car Bluetooth Speaker Squeezes Inside Your Steering Wheel

Mark Wilson — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:40:00 EST

In case your car isn't new or nice enough to have Bluetooth integration, this Steering Wheel Bluetooth Adapter seems like the perfect solution, save for one catch.

Fitting around the inner part of a steering wheel with some options for size adjustment, the $63 adapter features a microphone and speakers (for speakerphone), along with an LCD display (incoming callers), SD port (MP3s), USB (anything) and FM-out (to play everything back through your car's stereo).

The catch, of course, is that the adapter does need a power source, which happens to be your car's cigarette lighter. When you consider the logistics of connecting your steering wheel to a tether, no matter how cleanly, it can't sound like anything but a safety hazard...or am I missing some obvious precaution that makes this installation safe?

UPDATE: Ahh, it's rechargeable. But if you recharge it while the car is running...uhh...doesn't that defeat the wireless part? [Chinavision via Newlaunches]

Callpod's Drone Bluetooth Adapter Automates Connecting Headphones and Headsets

Jason Chen — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:00:42 EDT

Callpod—maker of one of our favorite charging devices, the Chargepod—has just come out with a Bluetooth adapter called The Drone. What's special about this Bluetooth adapter that's not in any of the hundreds of other Bluetooth adapter sticks already out? It "automatically pairs itself with your headset or headphones," which saves about 30 seconds of waiting and having to type "0000" into some prompt.

It's also a Class 1 Bluetooth device, so you've got a theoretical range of 100 meters. Couple that with the Callpod Dragon and you've got a 100 meter headset setup that connects itself. Give it to your parents so you won't have to teach them over the phone how to connect a Bluetooth headset.

Check out Callpod's first ad spot for their Chargepod below. It's actually pretty neat and shows non-techies why it's useful for them.

Tiny Bluetooth Adapter is Mostly USB, Smallest Ever?

Jason Chen — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:20:59 EDT

This Princeton Bluetooth adapter is probably the smallest USB adapter we've seen yet, being made of mostly a USB tip and a tiny little body. The USB adapter works on both PCs and Macs, has Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, and sticks out only a tiny bit so you don't accidentally snap it off. If our laptops didn't already have Bluetooth, we'd be on this faster than Big Daddys on Little Sisters. [Princeton]

MoGo; Worlds Smallest Bluetooth Adapter

blongo3 — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 08:00:40 EST

Newton Peripherals, makers of those sweet MoGo mice that fit inside your PC card slots, have now come out with the tiniest of tiny bluetooth adapters. The idea here is that it's so small and smooth that you can just leave it plugged into your computer all the time. And if my three and a half year old laptop didn't have bluetooth, I'd be all over this lil' guy. Look for them around June for $49.– Ben Longo

MoGo Dapter - finger nail sized Bluetoth adapter [Red Ferret]