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DIY Bluetooth Headset And Other Inventions

NETHED writes "Circuit Cellar has an blurb about a guy who obviously got sick of waiting for a cheap solution to the BlueTooth cellphone headset. So in true geek tradition, he rolled his own. Here is the description of the toy (which looks bulky as-is, but could be fixed w/ some refining). It actually didn't win any prizes in the PSoC contest, but you have to admit, its pretty cool. There are other honorable mentions like a poor man's O-scope to something that seems to attach to a moth and check its muscle movements. Neat and nerdy stuff for the circuit etching crowd."

8 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. DIY by Omkar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And SciAm just ran an editorial lamenting the demise of DIY. I guess that these innovations need a higher profile if we are to encourage science and technology as interests for youth.

  2. Wierd Results by mritunjai · · Score: 5, Interesting
    OT: But is it just me who finds it wierd that a simple Ultrasonic Distance meter won first prize whereas other more useful devices were dumped ?

    eg. See this Ultra sonic mapper which does all what the No. 1 does plus MUCH more, and Geeky Keep-in-touch device.

    May be their stress was on purely pSoC based systems (No. 1 doesn't have any other semiconductor device than pSoC). Even if it was this, they should have mentioned this in their competition.
    I all my impression is that creativity and effort has been brushed aside in this competition.

    Regards
    - Mritunjai

    --
    - mritunjai
  3. WOW! by ctar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This entry won 2nd place, and for good reason...Here's the gist of it:

    This device sits in between your TV and your cable or antenna source. It strips out the close captioning information, and replaces it with custom information from your PC and/or caller ID, and prints it as a headline on your TV using the close captioning feature.

    He says the box itself can decode caller ID info from your phone, and has a wireless link to get IM or 'You've Got Mail' type updates from your PC...Pretty sneaky. er...Geeky

  4. The problem with headsets is the battery life! by seamustheshark · · Score: 4, Interesting


    I have a dinky-little SonyEricsson headset for my Nokia 6310, and even after being fully charged, the battery in the thing only lasts around four-to-five hours in its 'standby' mode.

    If actually used to make/receive a call, the battery life is even worse!

    So, in all, a nice gimmick, looks lovely, but almost completely useless as it won't last the duration of a working day.

    (And, of course, there's no 'in-car' charger available!!)

    --
    -- Seamus
  5. That's not really the idea by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They don't have a long range or anything. The thing is there are often times when you want to be able to use our phone, but not be holding it to your head. Driving comes to mind. Hence, a headset. Now it's near enough that wires work, however they are not real conveinent. Hence, a wireless headset. Yes, it's not real necessary and is kind of a toy, but hey, we like toys.

  6. Re:Great Idea by cosyne · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'd like to have a headset that switches to the best avalable carrier, be that my cell phone, the landline in the lab (where my cell phone doesn't work), 802.11 VoIP, or maybe directly to the headset of the person i'm talking to, if they happen to be in range. Actually, i'd rather that my cell handset did this, but since Cingular covered $200 of it, i don't see it switching to landline or 802.11 VoIP anytime soon.

  7. Some bluetooth stuff I want by rosewood · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sure, I want my cellphone and PDA bluetooth'd so that when I come near the two of them sync with my PC so all my shit is together, so to speak.

    I also really want the bluetooth earpiece so I look like even more of a loon then I do with my hands free.

    I also want bluetooth locks on my door and my car. Oh you say wait until your 1337s hit me and break in ... make the encryption key strong enough (can be generated on my box and just sent to phone so the phone doesnt have to gen it) so its not possible. The point of these is so whenever I get to my door, the house unlocks or when I get to my car, its unlocked.

    I also want the ATMs and Vending Machines Bluetooth enabled. I just worry about the Vending Machines getting used more by me when I dont have to watch moneys go into it.

    Yes, bluetooth enabled TV/Receivers. Truely universal remotes.

    Bluetooth enabled appliances. Control the hot and cold from my PDA, start the oven, etc. (Again, like all of these, you just need strong encryption. ALso, bluetooth is short range so I war chalking shouldnt be much of a problem?)

    Please, someone start this REVOLUTION already ):

  8. Re:Why not simple RF? by skinfitz · · Score: 4, Informative

    I was talking about practical applications of this idea. If "security" is your concern, "forget" BT. The security it provides is worse than that of Wi-Fi.

    I'd be very interested to hear you justify that. My BT headset is paired to my phone - it won't listen to anyone elses phone, and my phone will not listen to anyone elses headset. The phone and headset are not even discoverable unless I manually do something to them. Comms are encrypted and sent over spread spectrum. I doubt that the average phonecall lasts long enough to capture the gigabyte or so of network traffic that it would take to even begin to attempt to break the crypto, plus attackers would have to be within a 10m radius of my call which could prove to be a little difficult.