ShopCell.com - Cell Phone Accessories Blog

Up until this new Bluetooth device, the BlueAnt V1, Bluetooth wireless headsets for cell phones were really puzzling. How is someone supposed to control them with couple of unmarked buttons and get feedback from a single indicator light. It was a real puzzle to understand what the headset is trying to say when the LED is blinking that particular way? Do I press the big button or the small button, or both at once? The user interface was something of a mystery.

On Tuesday, August 26, BlueAnt Wireless launched the first headset, the $130 V1 headset which recognizes spoken English commands, and responds, also in English. Thus, removing the hardships involved in using a Bluetooth headset device.

The BlueAnt V1 can't do everything that a standard headset combined with a voice-recognizing phone can do, but it's a useful advance for an industry that's been focused on everything except ease of use.

Headsets are marketed based on how much ambient noise they suppress, how small they are and how long their batteries last. Yet little though is given on its easiness of use. About 20 percent of Bluetooth headsets sold are returned by customers, with a majority complaining on complication of use. When employees help the consumer connect a new headset to the customer's phone in the store, the return rate drops dramatically. These numbers clearly show that a lot of people find these things hard to set up.

With the BlueAnt V1, things are just different, this is what is done: Press the big button once, and voice says "Say a command." You say "Pair mode." Then the voice walks you through what to do on the phone to get it connected.

If you've forgotten the command words, you press the button and ask "What can I say?" The V1 will patiently go through all the command words it can accept. You can even ask The BlueAnt V1 whether the headset is connected to the phone, and how much battery charge is left.

When a call is received, the headset reads out the number, then asks whether you want to "answer" or "ignore" it. You don't need to touch the headset, as with competing models. Remember those years when people who talked loudly to unseen friends while walking down the sidewalk were considered crazy? Well now society will need to accept some more weird sounds, with people talking commands like "Ignore it", "Answer it" etc.

One drawback with this headset is that it's quite limited in the number of terms it can recognize, and there is no way to train it to recognize or say new phrases. This means that when you receive a call, it will read out the number, digit by digit. It can't just tell you "It's your wife calling again." Another big limitation is that you can't dial calls from the V1 by saying the name of someone in your phone's contacts list. You can however program 7 numbers that it can call for you.

The V1 costs double the price than the BlueAnt headsets without voice recognition, but it's of course worth the extra bucks, particularly if you have a phone that does not have voice recognition.

ShopCell.com will be offering the BlueAnt V1 Bluetooth Headset soon. Meanwhile rows our full selection of other BlueAnt Bluetooths.