Those Embarrassing Bluetooth Problems

Ladies, maybe this is a familiar scene for you or someone you know? Your phone rings. Both the phone and your Bluetooth earpiece are wedged between the Kleenex, makeup and wallet in your handbag. Grab the earpiece; wreck whatever semblance of tidiness your hair was in by whipping the thing around your ear. "Hello, Hello?" The unit must need a charge, you decide. Forage for the phone proper instead. Activate handset instead of headset. Of course the caller has been gone for 5 minutes. Such is my life with Bluetooth. Conceptually I love it; practically I'm always short a piece or two unless I'm in the car and plan on wearing it for the duration.

I've seen two new headsets. The first alleviates hairdo muss; the second handles hairdo and battery problems. Both come from those masters of design, the Scandinavians.

Why a Scandinavian company would name a product a FlaminGO is lost on me (pining for a Florida vacation or looks like a long leg?) but the FlaminGO won CES 2005 Innovations Award for this design. There's no ear bale. It fits in your ear with a technology called EarClick and the EarClick attachments come in 6 different sizes. It hangs about as comfortably as a dangling earring, is remarkably lightweight and won't get in the way of your glasses or hair. Though it didn't answer my battery-life problems, I liked the design.

Radio Shack's Invisio G5 and Q7 (designed by the Danes and not available in stores until the Fall) was the problem solver. The devices are minuscule and have no ear bales. Best of all, their storage case for each doubles as a lithium ion battery charger. The Invisio Q7 uses a patented bone conduction technology that has been used by the military and in hearing aids. (These cost $150 and $199 respectively; ouch).

Now, Test Your Bluetooth Trivia?

According to Wikipedia, "The name Bluetooth was born from the 10th century king of Denmark, King Harald Bluetooth (whose surname is sometimes written as Bluetooh), who engaged in diplomacy which led warring parties to negotiate with each other."

How about you? Do you feel silly dressed in bluetooth?