Apple Bluetooth Headset gets FCC go-ahead

Remember the Apple Bluetooth Headset announced with the iPhone? Yeah, we know, it's a little fuzzy because of the insane hype surrounding the handset itself, but Apple is doing a Bluetooth Headset too -- and guess what, the FCC just gave it a thumbs-up. Unfortunately for all of us, there are confidentiality agreements preventing more information about the device from showing up, but at least for now it looks like the missing pieces are finally falling into place for Apple's whole mobile phone initiative thing.

[GermanQR @ Jun 15th 2007 3:31PM]

Oh my God an APPLE BLUETOOTH HEADSET!!!!!!

Dear Jesus when will this madness stop.

[shamowfski @ Jun 15th 2007 3:36PM]

Madness? THIS IS IPHONE!!!!!

[Rytard @ Jun 15th 2007 8:30PM]

Tonight...we dine with APPLE!!!!!

[Gadget Chick @ Jun 15th 2007 9:28PM]

lmao that jsut made my day..

[Benson Leung @ Jun 15th 2007 3:32PM]

It is disappointing that Apple's first peripheral is going to be obsolete immediately.

Where is the A2DP supported stereo music headphones? More importantly, will the iPhone support A2DP at all, in case I'd like to pick up a 3rd party?

I think this may be another potential weak spot in the iPhone capabilities. Hopefully, it'll get addressed in Rev 2... If i am using a bluetooth headset paired to the phone, i don't want to switch over to headphones if i want to listen to music.

[Slevin @ Jun 15th 2007 6:19PM]

If you look at the apple website the ear buds that apple includes with the iPhone will have a small dongle that you squeeze in order to use the headphones as a ear piece as well. So if you are listening to music no need to switch.

[ibelli @ Jun 15th 2007 3:32PM]

Bet this thing is available on the 29th as a way of getting people (Apple Nuts) to spend $75 - $100 more.

[Matt @ Jun 15th 2007 3:33PM]

Dude, it's a gadget site. They "report" news on gadgets. Apple makes gadgets. Simmer the hell down.

If that's an earbud up top, that's a tiny little headset.

[Fatima @ Jun 15th 2007 3:39PM]

uh...bluetooth headsets are supposed to be small.

[Matt @ Jun 15th 2007 3:41PM]

uh... thanks, I had no idea. Very constructive.

[bobartig @ Jun 15th 2007 4:00PM]

@Matt: from the original announcement at MW, they had some still shot of their bluetooth headset, looked like bic pen cap with a earbud attached to it. The thing looked absolutely tiny.

@Fatima: Yes, bluetooth headsets are supposed to be small, but this is smaller than practically everything else out there by a lot. So, either every bluetooth headset out there is too big, and thus a failure, or the Apple BT headset is remarkably tiny, even amongst small gadgets. Either way, Apple's gadget is exceptional, and you're being a jerk.

I just hope this tiny, tiny headset isn't crappy. Obviously it's going to cost a ton, like $100 or whatever. Lets just hope it isn't expensive and sucky.

[iNime @ Jun 15th 2007 3:44PM]

Battery life must be awesome on that guy.... pshh.

[NutMac @ Jun 15th 2007 3:42PM]

One major problem with stereo A2DP Bluetooth sets is the size. Left and right earpieces are joined by a wire or resembles a full headphones. Pretty cumbersome if you ask me. That said, Apple can very well offer such earphones in the future (assuming iPhone supports A2DP which I don't think it does).

[Mile @ Jun 15th 2007 3:47PM]

Seriously, how could the iPhone *not* support A2DP? You're trolling me and I fell for it, right?

[h8rain @ Jun 15th 2007 3:49PM]

Apple loses one point on style. Yea how funny would that be that it is an ipod in a phone and it does not support BT headphones. I am sure Apple would not make a mistake like that.

[t-bone @ Jun 15th 2007 4:18PM]

I agree. I would never buy a line-drawing bluetooth headset. It's only two-dimensional!

[Neeko @ Jun 15th 2007 3:53PM]

i havent seen it anywhere that the IPHONE supports A2DP Bluetooth. if it doesnt BIG MISTAKE ON APPLES PART.

[Mr. Sneakery @ Jun 15th 2007 3:54PM]

I know some comments about headphones have already been made but hear me out. If they wanted to really grab some innovation up and get people drooling, they should give you a bluetooth headset for each ear. A solution like that would give you easy access to still switch to a call, as well as maybe adding some functionality for adusting Left and Right channels. That solution would still be lighter and more compact than any of the bluetooth headphone sets I've seen to date.

[bobregular @ Jun 16th 2007 5:36AM]

Stupid on many levels. First, how do you work out one for each ear? Would they both be connected through bluetooth? Could the phone handle that? probably not. Would they be one piece? From "hearing you out" it seems that you have in mind that they would be seperate. Doesnt make sense.

[Iamsars @ Jun 15th 2007 3:55PM]

is this called the iHear?

[architecturegeek @ Jun 15th 2007 4:11PM]

The first test report seems to have mistakenly included photos. I wonder if black will be the standard color rather than ipod white.

[paloooz @ Jun 15th 2007 4:58PM]

I think it's aluminum.

http://images.macrumors.com/gallery/mwsfkeynote_final/photos/Img0128.JPG

[dumas @ Jun 15th 2007 4:19PM]

I've yet to find any ear bud that stays in my ear without a loop of some sort. There's no way this thing would work on me unless there's an attachment they're not showing.

[Jake @ Jun 15th 2007 4:26PM]

A little mystery and it turns folks mad and foaming at the mouth. If the iPhone has Bluetooth 2.0 you can best believe that it will do stereo bluetooth. It's a music phone for pete's sake!!!!!! Get a hold of yourself people!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ellianth @ Jun 15th 2007 11:44PM]

Why is this highly ranked?

It's also a smart phone and missing many features found on even crappy phones. So nothing about this piece of poo is obvious.

Make an iPhone site please. I'm tired of seeing every little thing posted on here. And don't tell me not to read it. I can't not read it. And some days 1 story is turned into 4 different articles.

[Gabe @ Jun 16th 2007 3:38AM]

Actually, the Blackberry pearl has bluetooth 2.0 and doesn't support A2DP, and not many phones do, except for SE phones, and a very few others.

[James @ Jun 15th 2007 4:36PM]

Why do blogs even bother anymore. The article should simply be a headline that says "Apple" and all the comments could just say "Hate" or "Like". It's basically the same system we have now, except more efficient... you don't have to read through mindless drivel to find out somebody's bias.

[MDB @ Jun 15th 2007 5:03PM]

Apparently you're not intelligent enough to take your own advice, since you've obviously read all of this "mindless drivel"

[James @ Jun 15th 2007 5:15PM]

I had to read it before I could form an opinion. I know I know, I'm suppossed to mindlessly comment based on my knee-jerk reaction to the headline, not read the article or the comments and try to add something. My fault.

[spil @ Jun 15th 2007 4:48PM]

From the pictures that were first shown when the iPhone was announced, the headset looked pretty cool. Does anyone know if they will be selling it besides with the iPhone? If the price isn't too bad, I would definately consider it over other BT headsets.

[Sa_n) @ Jun 15th 2007 5:14PM]

I agree. I won't be getting the iPhone, but if the price is reasonable for the performance, I would probably pick up the headset alone.

[Blackster @ Jun 15th 2007 4:48PM]

yeah, every post about apple-gadgets get the most replies *ghee*

[kevindineen @ Jun 15th 2007 4:52PM]

Like

:)

[Mac Dub @ Jun 15th 2007 6:28PM]

Like...Hate......Like............Hate....

Ok, stocks up....LIKE!

[k0a10 @ Jun 15th 2007 5:32PM]

Mac OS X, unlike about every other Bluetooth 2.0 supporting OS, doesn't support A2DP (stereo Bluetooth). So it wouldn't be surprising (though it would be disappointing) if the iPhone doesn't either. I guess A2DP is the same as a two button mouse in Apple's mind.

[Jesse S @ Jun 15th 2007 6:26PM]

Welcome to Applegadget, where a mediocre, out-dated bluetooth headset gets its own news post, just because it's made by Apple.

[macius @ Jun 15th 2007 8:22PM]

How do you know it's mediocre and outdated? Do you have one? Have you used one? Do you know anything about it except that it's a very small bluetooth headset made by apple?

[Priapus @ Jun 15th 2007 8:10PM]

For other noobs like me, wikipedia says:
A2DP defines how high quality audio (stereo or mono) can be streamed from one device to another over a Bluetooth connection. Although Tiger doesn't support this, the developer preview release of Leopard does.

[Rytard @ Jun 15th 2007 8:27PM]

Tonight...we dine with APPLE!!!!!

[Zoundguy @ Jun 15th 2007 10:50PM]

So... not to be hating or anything, but that "headphone" looks to be the exact same thing that is on an iPod's headphones... is it JUST me, or does anyone else absolutely hate those things? Perhaps it is just me, but they physically hurt my ears. (not sound quality, but literally they hurt my ear when they are in) I for one, must have a 3rd party headset when listening to my Ipod... actually, I won't listen to other peoples Ipods, just because they have their headphones. So, is it just me?

[patrice @ Jun 16th 2007 2:02AM]

During Steve Jobs' keynote, he mentioned that the bluetooth headset has only one button: Send/End. You don't need to turn it on, it automatically turns on in the presence of iPhone and goes to sleep when it's out of range. This is going to absolutely drain the battery, if you can't turn off the bluetooth.

Everyone at the keynote applaused obediently after every new revelation. They even applaused when they revealed the $600 price, as if that was a good deal! But when he proudly revealed the 5 hour battery life, there was just dead silence.

Anyone who gets an iPhone is only going to reveal how gullible and insecure they are!

[Jake @ Jun 17th 2007 7:25PM]

The pearl is first a email device not a music device. Not in same category

[Gabe @ Jun 17th 2007 7:29PM]

Congratulations, you have posted the irrelevant post of the day! Plus, RIM has tried to push the Pearl as the "SUPER COOL YOUTH DEVICE THAT PLAYS MUSIC" so in fact you sir are an idiot.

[Mr. Sneakery @ Jun 17th 2007 4:35PM]

@bobregular

You must be fairly closed minded individual. having 2 separate bluetooth headsets one for each ear makes perfect sense. Developers just don't think creatively, and neither do engineers. I'm trained in Industrial Design and Interaction Design and if you don't know what those are please educate yourself. Apple could totally design software that recognizes 2 separate headsets as right and left channels and let you select which ear piece side you wanted the audio from your calls to go to. Innovation comes through DESIGN, and breaking the rules, to pioneering new methods of delivery for current technologies. Just because you don't understand how that would work, doesn't mean its a stupid idea. Perhaps bluetooth can't even support that yet, but future technology will. Thanks for your effort to replying to me as snarkily as you could muster though.