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.

While they may not have an particularly desirable impact on your image, wireless Bluetooth headsets are convenient, and their continually dwindling size gives us the hope that some day you could wear one without anyone noticing. But, smaller size equals smaller buttons, an issue Philips is looking to dodge entirely with its latest stereo Bluetooth headset, the Tapster. It relies on touch inputs, not moving ones (other than a wee power button), meaning you'll be able to administer a gentle stroke to adjust volume or a light tap to answer a call. It all sounds quite intuitive and convenient -- providing of course the thing doesn't start dialing when someone bumps into you on the subway. No word on price, but if all goes well you could be pairing these over Bluetooth 2.1+EDR A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, and HFP by the end of the year.

[Via Shiny Shiny]

We all yearn for a life lived sans wires, yet many of us still find our media players dangling from the things. Mono Bluetooth headsets are already everywhere, but this could be the year that those of the stereo variety take off, and Altec Lansing's hoping its new BackBeat series will be a contender. They're made in partnership with earpiece-guru Plantronics, so callers will find integrated voice dialing, omnidirectional microphones, 7 hours of talk time, and AudioIQ to boost volume when you're in a noisy situation. For the music listener the sets include tune-channeling, canal-sealing buds, a behind-the-head band, and support for A2DP, AVRCP, HSP v1.1 and HFPv1.5. For those devices that list doesn't cover (we're looking at you, iPhone), the $130 BackBeat 906 includes a small transmitter. Everyone else can opt for the otherwise identical but transmitter-less BackBeat 903, which is $30 cheaper. We look forward to getting our ears on these at CES -- hopefully after they've had a thorough cleaning.

[Via iPodNN]

CY-FI just unwrapped its latest wireless speaker system for your bike. The CY-FI Bluetooth wireless sport speaker weighs just 4-ounces, supports hands-free and stereo Bluetooth profiles, and works for about 5.5-hours on battery when clipped to your bike or pretty much anything else. But by attaching it to a bicycle, Cy-Fi can call it a world's first Bluetooth sport speaker, which is nice. Unfortunately, the September 22nd launch with a $180 price tag is not.

Sony's new DR-BT140Q A2DP cans look to be Japan-only for the moment, but that won't stop us from pausing a moment to take a peek. Apparently they get about 12 hours battery life, and their 30mm drivers have a frequency response of 16Hz - 24KHz. White, pink, black, or silver, which will it be?

There's no dearth of Bluetooth-based wireless speakers out there, but Logitech put a nice bit of polish to this new Pure-Fi Mobile set, which is always appreciated. The A2DP stereo manages 12 hours of battery off of rechargeable batteries, and can work as a speakerphone with its built-in noise canceling mic. You can charge it up via USB or a wall jack, and there's of course an aux-in jack when you're not feeling in the wireless mood. Expect this one to hit Europe and the States in June for $150.

[Via Electronista]

Falling somewhere before the BT8010 and BT8040, the BT3030 most definitely takes the crown for clever design. Jabra's latest Bluetooth headset, as you can glean from the image above, was crafted to mimic the traditional dog tag, and specifications wise, you'll find Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, HSP, HFP, A2DP and AVRCP support. Additionally, you'll find six buttons useful for sending / ending calls and controlling music playback, and yes, it will lower the volume when detecting an incoming call from your livid mother-in-law. Ditch that ear critter and pick up something slightly less appalling late next month in Japan (or right now in the US) for ¥8,980 ($90).

BlackBerry owners looking to wirelessly connect to a home stereo or portable speakers can finally pick up that Remote Stereo Gateway we first saw sneaking through the FCC at the end of last month, for $80 from Tessco. The matchbook-size dongle receives a Bluetooth signal from your compatible 'Berry, and then pushes the audio out a standard 1/8-inch jack. According to the retail description, the device is also capable of streaming tunes from your stereo to a pair of Bluetooth headphones, which would mean that we are in fact looking at an A2DP profile here and thus likely compatibility with non-BlackBerry devices. Anyone wanna do us a solid and test this out with a WinMo phone?

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

We've seen more efficient ways of piping tunes from phones to stereos, but admittedly, they usually involve a wire or two. The Venturi Mini, now being offered by Verizon Wireless, performs the wondrous feat of receiving music streamed to it via stereo Bluetooth and relaying it on to your car's head unit by way of FM transmitter, making the whole process completely wire-free. "But wait," as they say in the industry, "that's not all." The cigarette lighter socket-powered device doubles as a handsfree that cleverly pauses your music when the time comes to take a call. Grab the multitalented wonder now for $129.99 -- and if you live in Washington or Oregon, the sooner, the better.

[Via MobileBurn]

It's been a good while since the BlueStreamer was hit up with a well deserved update, but those who've been waiting in tense anticipation can finally kick their shoes off and relax. Yep, Jays is indeed announcing the aptly-named BlueStreamer 2 Bluetooth stereo adapter, which not only features BT v2.0 and supports A2DP, AVRCP, HSP and HFP, but it's available in a trio of glossy motifs (black, white and pink to be precise). Weighing in at just 12-grams, this bugger allows users to "listen to music and receive calls simultaneously," and just in case that whole "stopping the jams 'til your convo is done" thing wasn't enough for you, it's also very compatible with Skype. Sure, there's nothing out of the ordinary here, but those captivated for whatever reason can grab one now for $62 (or €42.40 elsewhere). [Warning: PDF read link]

If you want a pair of true, in-ear buds without the muss and fuss of wires, your options are limited and you need to be prepared to make some sacrifices. One such sacrifice that needs to be heavily weighed into the equation, for example, is your desire to appear as though there is a pair of black Duplo blocks hanging out of your ears. That's exactly the curse of Etymotic's ety8, a decent set of stereo Bluetooth 'phones (we've tried them, they're comfortable and sound great) that were irreparably damaged by the ugly stick somewhere during the course of their development. The high-end headphone outfit has another Bluetooth product in the works, though -- the ER-89 "etyBlu" just hit the FCC's wires, giving us hope that they heard our complaints loud and clear and have worked to make their kit just a little less embarrassing to wear in public. We couldn't find conclusive evidence in the documentation that we're looking at a stereo headset here; theoretically, it could just be a mono product for calls, but we're encouraged by a brief mention of listening to music (who wants to blast tunes into one ear?) and the fact that the ety8's model number is ER-88. Can anyone make out what's going on in this FCC label diagram here?

Speaking of Korea, Samsung's P2 made its way into the States today, and you know what that means: it's time to start shopping for stereo Bluetooth headphones. At least that's what Bala's up to, who wrote in to Ask Engadget for advice as follows:

OK, I give up. I have been searching exhaustively for a Bluetooth stereo headset that's both lightweight, preferably the over-the-ear type and easily portable. I'd like to use it to listen music wirelessly from my iPhone (with an A2DP adapter) and my laptop which has Bluetooth. I'd also like to use it for voice calls (both with my iPhone and my PC), and that means it needs to have an integrated microphone. So far I have found only the BlueAnt X5 Stereo Bluetooth Headset to be meeting my requirements. Are there other headsets out there that would meet my requirements for under $125?

What say you guys, any favorites in the A2DP game? And don't say Kleer, that's cheating. Oh, and if you'd like your own question answered, be sure to send it in to ask at engadget dawt com.