Halo -- Engadget Mobile

halo posts

Jabra's HALO now ready to make stereo Bluetooth look a little less ridiculous

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 26th 2009 @ 8:54AM

By its very nature, stereo Bluetooth gear is never going to look quite as cool as its wired equivalent -- but if we look back on the early days, we're making progress. Jabra's new over-the-ear HALO should appeal to some with its relatively convenient folding design, and as an added bonus, it kinda looks like you're wearing a futuristic hair beret when you slip it on. How can you argue with that? Following an announcement earlier this year, the HALO's now available at Best Buy locations for $130 promising 8 hours of music playback, 13 days of standby, seamless transition between calls and tunes, and an innovative corded mode with a 3.5mm jack. It's tough to say whether you'll get odd stares wearing these day in and day out -- but if you're not willing to find out the answer to that the hard way, we certainly are. Selfless, we know.

Jabra HALO hands-on

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 3rd 2009 @ 2:41AM

Finding awesome stereo Bluetooth hardware is challenging. There are a few good reasons for that: one, you've got to somehow pack a battery inside the headset itself, two, you've got radio circuitry in there, and three, it's all got to last a bunch of hours between charges. We're not saying that Jabra's just-announced HALO is for everyone, but it's an awfully interesting product -- probably one of the best A2DP sets we've seen -- and unlike most on-ear sets, it folds small enough to carry with you pretty much everywhere you go. The jury's out on audio quality and fit until we get our hands on an actual review unit (they're showing some pretty loose pre-production prototypes at CTIA) but considering how the HALO looks and works, we're cautiously stoked that this is going to end up being one of the better multimedia accessories of the year.

Gallery: Jabra HALO hands-on

Jabra intros HALO stereo Bluetooth headset, SP200 speakerphone

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 1st 2009 @ 2:00PM

Jabra's making the wireless music game just a little bit more interesting today with the announcement of its stereo Bluetooth HALO headphones, featuring six hours of playback time on a single charge, AVRCP support, Jabra's Noise Blackout circuitry for improved clarity when making calls, and micro-USB charging. Conveniently, the HALO folds for storage, which also toggles the set's power. Staying in the Bluetooth theme, the company is also showing off its SP200 speakerphone -- a great way to avoid the fuzz, we figure -- with 10 hours of talk time, 23 days of standby, and active noise reduction. The HALO hits in May for $129.99; the SP200, meanwhile, gets real in April for $59.99.

Gallery: Jabra intros HALO stereo Bluetooth headset, SP200 speakerphone

Motorola's VE465, ZN300, QA4 and VE66 Lux get one step closer to officialdom

by Darren Murph posted Jan 29th 2009 @ 4:01AM

So, there's good news and not-so-awesome news. As for the former, we've got four new Motorola handsets that look to be as good as definite. As for the latter, there's only a sliver of a chance you'll actually be interested in owning one. That said, those looking for a new dumbphone (and unwilling to wait for the bounties sure to unfold at Mobile World Congress) can have a gander at the VE465, ZN300, QA4 and VE66 Lux. Unfortunately, the only one which has bothered to show its whole self (and not just its face) is the above pictured VE465, which we already knew was on the way courtesy of the FCC. Prep your best yawn and hit the read link if you're ready for more.

Motorola QA4 Halo outed by Bluetooth SIG, early details begin to flow

by Darren Murph posted Nov 20th 2008 @ 9:20PM

If there were two entities we just couldn't do without, they'd certainly be the FCC and Bluetooth SIG. The latest handset to be revealed courtesy of the latter is Motorola's QA4 Halo, and thanks to a particularly insightful individual over at HoFo, we've even got a few purported details to pore over. We're told to expect a 2.8-inch 400 x 240 resolution (touchscreen?) display, a 2-megapixel camera, a microSD card slot, USB 2.0, a CDMA / EV-DO radio, customizable widgets, Bluetooth 2.0 and a built-in accelerometer. Alright Moto, the secret's out -- how's about an official release?

[Via CellPassion]

Motorola: touchscreens on the radar. Everyone: we know.

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 5th 2008 @ 6:48AM

Bad news, Greg Brown of Motorola fame: when you told Crain's Chicago Business last week that the portfolio of 34 phones you intend to announce before the year's out includes devices capable of "touch and messaging," it turns out the reporter with whom you spoke already knew. In fact, Crain's specifically calls out a Touch competitor codenamed "Halo," and existence of the full-touchscreen Blaze for Verizon is no secret; while we're not exactly sure what you mean by "messaging," a healthy portion of your handsets already support SMS and MMS (as well they should), and you've got the QWERTY thing taken care of with devices like the Q9 series and the Sidekick Slide. You also mentioned that we can reasonably expect to see such electronic wizardry on shelves by Christmas, which is totally bangin' considering the financial pickle your firm is trying to work its way through at the moment. Seriously though, Greg, we didn't mean to harsh your buzz here -- just thought you might want to know your cover's blown, so you can move right past the "ooh, mysterious unreleased phone!" phase.

[Image via Boy Genius Report]