By Evan Ackerman
Bluetooth headsets are not generally at the top of my list of interesting things to write about, but since I’m actually in the market for one, I kept my eyes open at CES to see what I could find. I’ve got a hands free speaker thingy for my car, but I really need one for my bike.
The BlueAnt Q1 looks like it might be perfect for talking while biking, since it features a second microphone on the outside which allows for active noise cancellation. When it comes to wind noise, the Q1 is supposed to be able to completely cancel it out at speeds of up to 10 mph… I like to think I’m a more aggressive biker than that, but I imagine that even at higher speeds there’s still a substantial improvement in call quality.
The other nice thing about the Q1 is its voice recognition engine. You can give the headset verbal commands, which it will recognize and respond to with its own voice. Beyond basic voice dialing, you can ask it things like whether or not it has a good Bluetooth connection with your phone or how much battery it has left, and it’ll answer you (video of that here). Clever.
The BlueAnt Q1 should be available at the end of March for about $130; we’re hoping to get a review unit before then and we’ll let you know how well it works.
[ BlueAnt ]
