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Wireless Networking Hardware

Wireless Bluetooth Sunglasses 172

Posted by CmdrTaco from the because-you-can dept.
elecngnr writes "Motorola and Oakley are going to team up to create Bluetooth enabled sunglasses. At the CES, Motorola had also announced that they would be developing some bluetooth embedded clothing with Burton, a snowboarding company. " Speakers built into the hood, and controls built into the jacket for your audio player and phone.
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Wireless Bluetooth Sunglasses More

Wireless Bluetooth Sunglasses

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  • i wonder (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dJOEK ( 66178 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:01PM (#11389269)
    What instructions are there on the laundry tab ?

    is this even washable ?

    • Re:i wonder (Score:3, Funny)

      by l0ungeb0y ( 442022 )
      "What instructions are there on the laundry tab ?"

      Not sure about Windows users, but for those with OSX 10.2 and greater it should read: "Hand Wash in iSync or iClean only"

      har har har.

    • Re:i wonder (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      one word,

      removable

      its in the article...
    • well as long as you use anti-static dryer sheets, you'll be ok
    • What instructions are there on the laundry tab ?

      ``Home laundering is killing dry cleaning''

  • Why? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by svvampy ( 576225 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:02PM (#11389275)
    Because the manufacturers need another reason to charge you two hundred dollars for five cents worth of plastic?
    • They don't seem to know what they want these glasses to do. Maybe play music. Maybe something else. Regardless, preorder today!
    • Why do you need a wireless connection between earphones in your jacket and an mp3 player that's located *in your jacket*? Given bluetooth's limited range, are you really going to leave your player at the bottom of the hill? (OK, I guess you can always argue that you don't want to get strangled on the wires or something...)
    • I won't get it unless it comes with a camera. only real reason to have bluetooth-enabled sunglasses. Would make uploading screencaps of tv shows so much easier!

      I know everyone here thinks I'm a freak now because I didn't think of any computer geek-related use for this crap.
    • "Because the manufacturers need another reason to charge you two hundred dollars for five cents worth of plastic?"

      Yeah, because supply and demand wouldn't possibly work in this situation.
  • Will the glasses black out if a Microsoft product comes on screen? Or will they turn blue?

  • what FA? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    TF intro was longer than TFA

  • MP3 Player built in? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ashpool7 ( 18172 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:05PM (#11389308) Homepage Journal
    Call me back when you've got a bluetooth HUD or something. The MP3 player can sit in my pocket.
    • Something that keeps track of my Ammo and health would make my romps in the real world much easier.

      It has to show me my inventory too! Don't forget the inventory feature !
    • A HUD was my first thought, but TFA was (very) short on details and mentions only the MP3 player. Without a HUD, bundling a visual device with an audio one seems less like a convenience and more like a fashion statement. There are situations where I'd take off my sunglasses and leave on my headphones, so I suspect they're not looking to target the Bat Utility Belt generation so much as the grande Star-Schmucks quaffing jogger who wants everyone to see how hip and trendy they are.
    • "Call me back when you've got a bluetooth HUD or something. The MP3 player can sit in my pocket."

      I wear three things at nearly all times of my waking life:

      1.) Glasses
      2.) Watch
      3.) Cell phone. (Well I carry it anyway.)

      If any of these three comfortably housed an MP3 player, I'd prefer that to carrying something else in my pocket. If they can make it work, more power to them. Besides, WTF do you need a HUD for? "Danger! The object you're about to walk into is solid!"
      • Try a SonyEricsson S700i, I bought one of those babies. It has a decent (as in good sound) MP3 player, a 1.3Mp camera (sure not Nikon Coolpix territory, but amazingly good in daylight situations) and an FM radio that actually works.

        I used to use the P800 for these tasks (combined cell/pda/camera/MP3/OGG player) but it was just too big to be practical. But the S700 is dangerously close.... Oh and it has bluetooth too, and a instresting "Bluetooth Display" profile... god knows what THAT is.

  • Bluetooth clothing? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mudcathi ( 584851 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:09PM (#11389339) Journal
    Does this mean I have to worry about hackers turning my socks into spam zombies?

  • Important Safety Tip (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ScentCone ( 795499 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:09PM (#11389341)
    snowboarding

    I was just thinking that what attitude-is-everything people racing down an icy Pennsylvania hill, weaving through other people on a slippery, metal-edged plank and attempting to periodically sail through the air need is an easier way to block their senses.
    • need is an easier way to block their senses.

      To danger, anyway. What'd be neat is if they went black when anything threatening came by. We could set up anything dangerous to emit bluetooth "danger" signals....

      • Or perhaps a better idea would be if this was some sort of Bluetooth HUD, as someone up the discussion suggested. Overlay a topographic map of the run on the lenses and indicate when there's a tree waiting in a bend on the other side of a hill you're about to fly over. Maybe you'd zig where you'd otherwise zag and not fataly tenderize yourself against it.

    • Re:Important Safety Tip (Score:5, Funny)

      by AndroidCat ( 229562 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:32PM (#11389509) Homepage
      Sure. "Hi! Yeah, I'm on the snowboard. Hang on, I'm about to Bono this tree..."
      • Maybe the Bluetooth-enabled helmet is a better idea than the jacket for actual snowborders.
    • I was thinking about a slightly different safety issue - we have a smallish object (speaker) intended to be held close to the skull. It is in clothing intended for use at high speed on an unstable platform in the presence of hard objects (rocks, trees.)

      I don't know enough about snowboarding gear or this product to say whether it is an extra hazard. (Do snowboarders wear helmets? Is the speaker a small, hard object ready to be imbedded in the skull, or a wide rigid object that adds helmet-like protection?)
    • Plus, on icy Pennylvania hills, you can adjust the player on the lift after your 30 second ride downhill.

      • Heh. We were thinking the same thing - notice I said "hill" and not "mountain." Since I can't afford to wing my way out to Vale to hit the slopes, I just plain gave up on east-coast skiiing. It's just another way of paying to abuse yourself, and the I also want to avoid the jail time that would come from deliberately killing certain snowboarders.
    • I think what you are looking for is peril sensitive sunglasses. They were last available in the HHGTTG video game.
      • Inevitably, a new HHGTTG video game of sorts will coincide with the release of the movie. Maybe these sunglasses will automatically darken via bluetooth when you die in the game, eliminating the need to "put on your peril sensitive sunglasses now".

  • The goggles! They do nothing! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Yaztromo ( 655250 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:09PM (#11389342) Homepage Journal

    And Bluetooth-enabled sunglasses do what exactly? Unfortunately, the article doesn't say. I'm guessing they're going to provide an audio output facility, but who knows for sure?

    I'm off to install a Bluetooth chip into my toilet. What is it going to do? Damned if I know, but one things for sure -- /. front page, here I (and my Bluetooth-enabled toilet) come!

    Yaz
    (...who actually has and uses two Bluetooth devices).

    • Put a Bluetooth chip in your toothbrush, so when you're brushing and you realize you forgot to flush, you don't have to touch the commode handle in mid-brush.

    • Actually, I think they are working to embed the bluetooth (BT) technology in the sunglasses for things like BT enabled phones. There would be some type of earpiece on the glasses and the mic would be built into the frame.

      I own and use several BT devices. I have a wireless mouse for my PowerBook. Also, my mac is configured to accept BT from my phone, so I can completely turn off the ringer and the caller ID shows up on my monitor. Very nice for meetings. The lab I work in has a G5 PowerMac with a wireless

      • I have a wireless mouse for my PowerBook. Also, my mac is configured to accept BT from my phone, so I can completely turn off the ringer and the caller ID shows up on my monitor. Very nice for meetings. The lab I work in has a G5 PowerMac with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Not having all those wires helps clean the desk up nicely.

        I'm running the same configuration -- a PowerBook with an Apple Bluetooth Mouse and a Sony Ericcson T610 phone. The phone is configured to not only accept SMS messages, but to

    • I'm off to install a Bluetooth chip into my toilet.

      Would that be a shitty interface to your crapper?

    • And Bluetooth-enabled sunglasses do what exactly?

      If you get the Bluetooth Blublockers [blublocker.com], they would probably splode themselves.

    • I'm betting they communicate with a belt-mounted (or in pocket) Perilometer, and turn completely black at the first sign of danger.

      The all-in-one Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic version won't be out 'til next year though.
    • They are peril sensitive and turn black at the first hint of danger. For example, it will spot copyrighted materials and black out if you do not have appropriate DRM licences.
    • And Bluetooth-enabled sunglasses do what exactly?

      They let you see the world around you is really full of subliminal messages and aliens [imdb.com].

      Oh, and if your friend won't put them on, just beat the living crap out of each other for a half hour or so...

    • They turn black at the first sign of copyrighted material, thus preventing you from seeing anything you haven't paid for.
  • Auto dry? Auto fit? Auto lace? If it ain't up to McFly's standards, it ain't worth purchasing.


  • my ipod fits perfectly in my pocket. my head phones are pretty much invisible. why put this in clothes that i'll forget to take out when I wash it. I always hate when new technology comes out and mfg's try to tag it on to every product they have to make it sell.

  • great idea (Score:1, Insightful)

    by paradoxmember ( 609285 )
    This is useful.. when I am driving or outside i am always wearing my sunglasses anyway (for the most part). Now i don't have to worry about a hands free set and my sunglasses not fitting well on my head together.

  • While Bluetooth 1.1 does not have enough bandwidth (Score:5, Informative)

    by Karpe ( 1147 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:10PM (#11389350) Homepage
    for uncompressed "CD quality" audio, what enables these new headphones and this new sunglasses are the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile [holtmann.org], which compresses the audio using the low complexity lossless Sub-Band Codec [holtmann.org]. These devices usually also support a profile that enables you to play, pause, forward and rewind, or, if paired to a telephone too, to mute the audio when a call is received. This all seems very nice, I just wish these profiles get supported in Tiger (and Longhorn, or Windows XP new Bluetooth stack, to be fair). Can't wait to get some more wireless audio.

  • Lawsuit alert (Score:4, Funny)

    by John3 ( 85454 ) <john3NO@SPAMcornells.com> on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:11PM (#11389357) Homepage Journal
    Motorola and Oakley better check with their legal departments...Suntiger Inc. [suntiger.com] might try and sue to protect their intellectual property [bannerwitcoff.com] for "blue blocking sunglasses" which sounds eerily similar to "blue tooth technology".

  • Dept. of redundancy dept. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:13PM (#11389365)
    Wireless Bluetooth?

    did I miss a meeting?

  • Bluetooth radius (Score:3, Funny)

    by Handbrewer ( 817519 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:13PM (#11389369) Homepage
    If i walk outside my bluetooth radius, i become scared and confused.

  • Interference! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Line_Fault ( 247536 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:16PM (#11389390) Homepage
    What a great product! Now everyone can cause WLAN interference without even trying!

    • Bluetooth is incredibly low power, and operates on a different frequencly from WLAN. Also, the peer-to-peer style network topology means that two BT networks in the same area will share the bandwidth rather than interfere with each other.

      You'd have to get a lot of devices into a small area before interference would become a big problem.
      • Bluetooth operates on the same 2.4 to 2.5 GHZ ISM band as "b" and "g" networking, but it is split into something kike 79 non-overlapping channels rather than three non-overlapping channels. I don't know if any reciever allows you to choose, or tries to avoid detected interference though.

        It shouldn't interfere, but with a bluetooth mouse next to a bluetooth reciever AND a WLAN reciever within a foot of each other, sometimes I notice a greater lag on the g card.

  • Imagine... (Score:3, Funny)

    by graveyardduckx ( 735761 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:16PM (#11389395)
    A beowulf cluster of people wearing similar sunglasses... Ok, that even creeps me out.

  • They are Stylish!!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by djplurvert ( 737910 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:22PM (#11389435)
    Oh yeah baby, that's Stylish with a BIG S.

    Take a gander here [oakley.com] at the mp3 version. Don't be fooled by the photography, these babies are BULBOUS! I think they're going for the cyborg look.

    All I know for sure is that when I say them in compusa I just couldn't stop laughing.

    I can't imagine using those things snowboarding. They look like they'd fly off with one quick turn of the head. I like lightweight and simple glasses for boarding. They WILL come off your face, unless of course, you are much better than me and NEVER find yourself yardsailing down the slope. Did I mention that they look like shit.
    • Yea, they are pretty ugly. But look at the guy wearing them. Are those his real teeth? Maybe those caps are part of the antenna. God, I hope not, the guy looks like some reject from a hip-hop video
    • Shit I sell Oakley products and we just got these in stock. These things are more expensive then an iPod.The 256mb model are almost $550.00.
      • Oakley markets their products to dorks. The people in these pictures are dorks. Dorks will buy them to look cool, and will look even more dorky. Dork, just to say dork again.
      • It's funny why someone would actually buy them for this price...after all, you can get a better mp3 player *and* better looking sunglasses for less. Guess what, you wouldn't even need to wear sunglasses if you'd like to listen to mp3s :-)
        I guess they are really for the sort of people who don't care about money.
      • The 256mb model are almost $550.00.

        True, but at 256MB you get polarized lenses; those could easily set you back $15 without the MP3 stuff. Agreed, however: the dork factor is pretty high here...

    • Re:They are Stylish!!! (Score:2, Informative)

      by djtripp ( 468558 )
      I couldn't snowboard with sunglasses, I much prefer wearing goggles. I do like Oakley, but I would lump the Thump and the Over the Top in the Never would ever wear category. I do like the Tuneups II [giro.com] ear pieces that Giro has created for the their helmets. Much better idea, and a whole lot cheaper. Couple that with the Burton jacket and iPod, and I would be in snowboarding heaven. Also flip up sunglasses are retarded, unless you are playing baseball.
    • I have only one question. How come only the 256meg version comes with polarized lenses.

      That blows it for me, I would have bought a pair if it wasnt for that. Oh and the fact they look crap, that put me off a bit.
    • I would just like to point out that Motorola's existing bluetooth headsets are very small and lightweight so it's not fair to automatically assume the resulting sunglasses will be as large as the MP3 player sunglasses.

      Then again, the Apple iPod Shuffle is tiny too. And once you chew it up like a piece of gum I'm sure it's downright miniscule*.


      * Don't swallow the chewed up iPod Shuffle. It will stay in your stomach for 7 years.

  • More Ways To Become Distracted (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Uosdwis ( 553687 ) on Monday January 17, 2005 @06:24PM (#11389442) Journal
    Yeah this is a good idea.

    First we complain about drivers being distracted with phones while on the road. Just wait till we have skiers/boarders doing the same [9news.com]. Not being able to hear when you are listening to your iPod is really safe [thedenverchannel.com]
    • Not to be too harsh, but this problem has been around since the Sony walkman came out, about 25 or 26 [acusd.edu] years ago. You don't have to wait, people have been skiing and snowboarding with musical distractions for nearly a generation.
      • But now they can do it without WIRES! This is the tipping point, man! The butterfly is flapping its wings! WHY ARE YOU NOT PANICKING?

        *deep breaths*
      • I don't know anyone who has used a walkman or discman on the slopes. I have noticed that with the rise in MP3 players use of music players on the slopes has increased though. Personally I think using such things while skiing is a horrible idea. Embedding the devices into a jacket is a stupid gimick, which will be obsolete by next winter, when newer electronics come out in more stylish jackets.
    • Uh, why did you link to a story about a skiier dying after being hit by a snowmobile? It mentions headphones in one paragraph but immeadiately rules them out. I'm sure there are some much better examples of driver distraction accidents.
      • There was more coverage about the headphones/iPod she was using during the TV broadcast. Unlike most /.ers I want to be able to point to a reference, and this is the only one I could find that made any mention of headphones. Plus I thought the relevance of the story being recent was important.
  • Mr. Clowes, your hi-fi pizza is ready. Mr. Clowes [fantagraphics.com], dial 432 for pickup.
  • I am not sure about wireless sunglasses.

    So, I can't listen to my music when I am not wearing shades?

    I want a bluetooth remote for my iPod, I want a bluetooth module for my Bose QuietComfort 2s. I want to control it while I am on a plane, without worrying about all the damned wires.

    With that, I don't need electronic embedded clothing...

  • Sunglasses??? Motorola? (Score:4, Funny)

    by zymurgyboy ( 532799 ) <zymurgyboy@NOSpAm.yahoo.com> on Monday January 17, 2005 @07:04PM (#11389848)
    Great. So now I can go from being the dork with the tiny Jabra headset who appears to be talking to himself, to being the scary sunglasses-all-the-time Matrix agent who appears to be talking to himself.

    DAMN YOU bluetooth device people!

  • I don't like the optics or style of Oakley (flash over function), but a building a bluetooth headset, if this is in fact what they are talking about, makes much more sense than and MP3 Player. The earphone is done, so all that needs to be designed is the boom. The bluetooth circuitry can easily fit in the space of an mp3 player.

    For walking and driving around sunglasses would be much more stable than the average headset.

    • For walking and driving around sunglasses would be much more stable than the average headset.

      You must live in - where? - Sandy Eggo?

      What pathetic chumps we are as consumers. Now we've been been convinced that we need different MP3 devices for every time of day, for every kind of weather, for every mood...

  • Actually, this is how they really work - I know this because I read about it on the back of a cereal packet. First the bluetooth connection links in with your cameraphone. You have to pair the two so that they know each other and will talk to each other, it's like friendly functions in C++. After that, is just a matter of clipping your cameraphone to your jacket, or if you've got one of those new flip phones you can just slide it over your top pocket so the camera points out. Ideally, you'll be on a 3G netw
  • Anyone else been thinking of super-chromatic-peril-o-sensitive sunglasses? Or ist it just because I'm watching the BBC Hitchhiker? :-)
    • That's the first thing I thought of. Presumably the bluetooth interface is there as a link up to a peril detector that you carry in your pocket.
  • Neat.

    Next the sunglasses will be able to listen to your cell phone calls, give you a heads-up closed captioning or translation maybe, perhaps allow advertising to be popped up too.

    Plus they can be signaled to go completely opaque if the Homeland Security Network realizes you're in the vicinity of something you ought not see, or if a tactical nuclear device is about to go off within your line of sight.

    Every driver should be wearing a pair ...
  • Supported OS: Windows XP, 2000, ME or 98SE (98SE requires additional driver); Mac OS 9.2.2, OS X 10.1.5, OS X 10.2 or OS X 10.3 Oh great, just what I've always wanted... to have Windows ON MY FACE!
  • That the next iPod will likely have Bluetooth or 802.11b/g/whatever.

    -Stream to AirPort Express
    -"Remote controls" available that work with Bluetooth from Apple and third parties.

    Should be an interesting year. They gotta suppport that $249.00 and up price point by further differentiation. Mot wouldn't be doing this otherwise.

    Don't get me started about "Jokely". Beautiful sunglasses - for a few weeks. Every pair I've owned (at least six pair since 1988, including the original Eyeshade) has failed to provide
  • Don't forget to add $200 for an iPod bluetooth adapter.

    http://www.tentechnology.com/products/products_n av iplay.php

    Plus just like with the Shuffle you won't have a display.
  • I like the idea of Bluetooth personal area networks. They just need to improve its implementation a little. 10 meter range is fine , but the devices need to be able to interact a bit better. For example I own a jabra headset , a bluetooth enabled phone (n-gage) , a bluetooth enabled PDA ( axim x50v ) and a usb adaptor for my laptop. I use the headset with my phone , and for skype(out) with my PDA and laptop, and utilising the audio gateway for voice notes on my PDA and laptop. I use bluetooth to install(syn

  • Burton? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Tuesday January 18, 2005 @08:08AM (#11393816) Homepage Journal
    In the UK, Burton sell suits and chav (google for it) clothing. Since people are embarassed to be chavs, Motorola may want to re-think their partnership!

    PS. I know about Burberry too. Seeing the business news report that their sales were down due to people being too embarrased to wear their clothes cracked me up.

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