For more on SYNC, go to syncmyride.com.
LAS VEGAS, January 10, 2008 – From its member party celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Bluetooth technology, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the winners of its third annual Best of CES Contest, an event held each year during the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to highlight the hottest, most innovative and consumer friendly Bluetooth enabled products.
Forty-eight new Bluetooth products were submitted for the contest in categories focusing on what consumers can do with the technology – talk on a headset, input information, listen to music, transfer information, or use in an industrial or other vertical environment. The Bluetooth SIG carefully tested each product and judged them on a variety of criteria, including compliance with Bluetooth SIG qualification standards, ease-of-use, look and feel and overall usability of the product as expected by the average consumer.
Bonus points were given to products complying with Experience Icon requirements. The Experience Icons make it simple to understand what a Bluetooth enabled device can do and how it will work with other devices for file transfers, printing, listening to music, talking on a headset or inputting information. Manufacturers are encouraged to use the icons on packaging of certified Bluetooth enabled products. Consumers can simply match Experience Icons to ensure a seamless wireless experience.
Winners of the Bluetooth SIG Best of CES contest are (finalists indicated in parentheses):
- Overall – Samsung P2 Widescreen Music Player
- Headset – Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth Stereo Headset [finalist: Motorola MotoPURE H12]
- Input – Logitech Cordless Desktop MX5500 Revolution Keyboard [finalist: Newton Peripherals MoGo Mouse X54 Pro]
- Music – Parrot DS1120 Bluetooth Speakers [finalist: Samsung P2 Widescreen Music Player; honorable mention Motorola RAZR2 V9]
- Transfer – Motorola T815 [finalist: Samsung SGH-i617 Blackjack II]
- Vertical – Ford SYNC, powered by Microsoft Auto [finalist: Baracoda ScanWear; honorable mention Motorola MotoROKR T505]
“As we celebrate the 10th year of Bluetooth technology at the 40th annual CES, we continue to see a growing number of new Bluetooth devices, particularly in the home entertainment as well as sports and fitness arenas,” said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. “Throughout this year and next, our organization will be hard at work providing the tools for manufacturers to continue to innovate in these and other areas with high speed and ultra low power Bluetooth specifications, making Bluetooth technology the only wireless technology consumers need.”
The winning products will be featured on The News Market, a site for media professionals to download, search and get information quickly for upcoming stories, sent on a broadcast tour where the devices will be shown in top markets across the country, and highlighted in the Q2 issue of the Bluetooth SIG magazine, SIGnature, The Bluetooth Quarterly. These products will also be highlighted on www.bluetooth.com throughout January.
