BlueAnt unveils voice-controlled V1 Bluetooth headset

Anyone who's used the stylish, compact, voice-isolating Z9 Bluetooth headset from BlueAnt knows that while the unit itself performs satisfactorily, remembering the thousand-and-one unintuitive button combinations (three-second push to end a call?) can be a real pain in the ass. Well thankfully for fans of that somewhat flawed product, the Australian manufacturer will be back as CES with yet another dual-mic model, the V1, which drops the Z9's awkward input method in favor of almost complete voice control. The so-called BlueGenie Voice User Interface promises to operate the full suite of headset functions with the use of but a single activation button, which -- if it can actually work in real-world situations -- should definitely help give this new model a leg (or six -- ha) up on the competition. Stay tuned to our CES coverage for more details, along with pricing and release info.

[Ricardo @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:16AM]

Voice control is useful, but only when you are not doing it in public, which kind of defeats the purpose since you usually wear a headset in public...

[John @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:13AM]

BIG BOY!

[Clayj @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:25AM]

So which came first: This BlueAnt company, or William Gibson's Blue Ant advertising agency from "Pattern Recognition" and "Spook Country"?

[Karim @ Jan 3rd 2008 4:22PM]

Hmmm. "Pattern Recognition" was published in 2003, but press releases for BlueAnt (Australia) only go back to 2004. Possibly a case of Gibson living in an unequally distributed future again.

The headset company is called "BlueAnt" or "Blueant," but I think the fictional version is two words, "Blue Ant."

Or maybe that's what Hubertus Bigend wants us to think...

[NHAnimator @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:48AM]

My aunt uses one of these and loves it.

[Andrew Pollack @ Jan 3rd 2008 10:53AM]

What would be useful, is one that would take a tap to bring you "out of band" so you could dictate touch tones to have it send -- for voicemail and so on.

[rtdunham @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:59AM]

so the next time you're annoyed by one of those talk-loudly-on-my-cellphone-in-public dudes or dudettes, you sidle up to them and say, "hang up". I think this product has far more benefits than the article suggests.

[Bill @ Jan 3rd 2008 12:24PM]

Wow, that's evil, and brilliant! Kind of like the story about the guy who's bragging too much about the voice control software he installed on his PC, then his friend quickly says "FORMAT C".

[Bill @ Jan 3rd 2008 12:30PM]

One thing I find totally irritating about Bluetooth headsets is how each one handles button presses differently, and they are often not reliable. For some reason I can't get mine to hang up reliably. One time that resulted in my wife hearing me sing in the car after I thought I had hung up the call!

I hope this voice control idea works, but I doubt it. In my experience, the only thing that's less reliable than bluetooth headset button presses is bluetooth headset voice control!

[Ricardo @ Jan 3rd 2008 12:32PM]

I'm really sorry for your wife...

[Bill @ Jan 3rd 2008 12:41PM]

Don't be... she got a really good laugh out of it, and still gives me crap about it once in a while.

[Jonas Kimble @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:14PM]

The Jawbone already does this when coupled with a blackberry 8830 (and others, I'm sure) and it does it quite well. All 500 of my address book entries are recognized purely by saying 'Call John Doe'.

[Jonas Kimble @ Jan 3rd 2008 2:16PM]

I just realized my comment sounded a bit ridiculous - you obviously have to say the person's name; not John Doe (just wanted to nip this one in the bud before someone jumped on it)

:)

[Karim @ Jan 3rd 2008 4:23PM]

Your "blue" aunt...?

[Z @ Jan 4th 2008 5:01AM]

I don't care for the idea of voice control. It sounds cool at first, but wearing a BT earpiece can make you look crazy enough. Having to speak commands to it is not only gonna undoubtedly prove to be a pain in the butt, but it's gonna make people think you're nucking futz. "Hang up. HANG UP! Answer. A-N-S-W-E-R!"

No thanks.

I'll stick to my Jabra JX-10 II. It's small, sleek, light, looks great, offers BT 2.0 and other new technologies and great battery life, has a matching desktop charger (and USB charger cable), and has it's buttons intelligently located, which also happen to be easy and intuitive to use. You couple it with a Nextlink earspring (which just so happens to fit it perfectly), and you have yourself the best BT earpiece out there, IMO.

[Z @ Jan 4th 2008 5:11AM]

Oh yeah, one last thing: Conversing with someone is one thing, but speaking voice commands to an inanimate object when you're around other people is not gonna work; not just because of the sanity factor, but because there's value in being able to operate your electronics with quiet discretion, which the V1 wouldn't afford (at least from what's been presented so far).