Last year, we spent some time testing Callpod's Dragon V2 ($100), a Bluetooth wireless headset that didn't really impress us much, and we didn't get back to reviewing due to the huge pile of items requiring our more immediate attention. As we're making our way through the stack, we wanted to make a few quick comments for those who might be interested in our take on Dragon V2 -- in short, it hasn't gotten better over time, but it does have a feature or two some users may find interesting.

Shaped like a hockey puck and larger than many of the Bluetooth headsets we’ve recently tested, Dragon V2 uses its unusually large, plastic shell to house an eight-hour battery, dual microphones that promise noise suppression, and a Class 1 Bluetooth chip that promises to let users achieve wireless distances of up to 300 feet from their devices. Callpod includes charging cables, wall and car adapters, a carrying case and a replacement eartip in the package, plus an adjustable earstem that generally keeps the circular earpiece on your ear. Three colors, including the faux carbon fiber one shown here, are available; we weren’t particularly impressed by the cheap look of the label-like carbon art on this unit’s side.

If there’s any reason we initially were interested in Dragon V2, it was the Class 1 Bluetooth technology: in practical comparisons with the iPhone 3G, we were able to walk further away from the phone than the typical 30-foot Bluetooth headsets we’ve tested; Dragon V2’s connection becomes troublingly staticy at around three times the distance, or 85-100 feet. This is good by the standards of most headsets, but bad in another respect: there’s a base level of static flutter in Dragon V2 even when you’re right next to the iPhone, so your connection never sounds totally clear on your side. It’s sort of like listening to an FM radio, adjustable in volume with a three-position power and volume toggle found on the side that’s closest to the back of your head. In incoming audio quality, we wouldn’t choose it over most of its competitors.

Outgoing call quality was also unimpressive. We were told repeatedly that—despite the dual microphone design—our voices sounded warbly, compressed, and deep, lacking in treble and sounding softer than with other headsets we tested. That was without any background noise. When we did our standard comparative test with audio in the background, such as music, we were told that we sounded “really muddy” against the sound of the ambient noise, which Dragon V2 did not screen out from our voice like last year’s Aliph Jawbone or newer headsets such as the iVoice Diamond-X. It seemed as if the microphones just weren’t separated enough from each other, or the signal processing inside the unit sufficient to know how to remove ambient sound from the user’s voice. Overall, no matter how we tried it, callers told us that Dragon V2 “just doesn’t sound good.”

Another possible standout feature in Dragon V2 is a walkie-talkie feature, which lets two Dragon users pair their headsets to one another for direct communications. You can use a circular button on the unit’s side to turn the audio on or off for communication or muting; a separate accessory called the Phoenix allows up to five of these headsets to be used at once together for a push-to-talk or group conferencing situation. In our testing with two Dragon units, the same 85- to 100-foot distance-before-static limitation applied, but the ability to let two people talk wirelessly anywhere they go at no additional charge for cell phone minutes may appeal to some users.

Apart from this, Dragon V2 has little else that would even modestly interest us. The shape, size, look, and static of this earpiece are so sub-optimal that we wouldn’t want to wear it around, and the sound quality so roundly disappointed our callers than we wouldn’t want to inflict it upon them, either. The only reasons this headset doesn’t rate a C- or D+ are its wireless distance and walkie-talkie performance, which may appeal to some users; we would suggest waiting on something more sleek and with better sound quality.

Among the myriad uses for a laptop is giving presentations using PowerPoint or, for Mac users, Keynote. In fact, for many notebook owners, it’s a primary use. Those who move around while speaking know the value of being able to control your presentation from across the room or stage, and Apple's recent laptops include an infrared sensor that provides basic remote control of your slides using Apple's Remote. But the Remote, while compact and light, lacks features and works only if you’ve got a direct line of sight between the remote and your MacBook’s infrared sensor.

The Presenter, a Mac-only product that’s part of the Targus for Mac line, uses Bluetooth wireless instead of infrared, which means better range without requiring a direct line of sight; you can use the Presenter from up to 33 feet (10 meters) away from your Mac, even if there are objects in between. Pairing the remote with your Mac is a simple, one-time process, much like the one you’d use to pair a Bluetooth mouse. Targus claims the Presenter will get up to six months of use from two AA batteries. (I haven’t used the Presenter long enough to test that claim.)

The Presenter offers considerably more functionality than Apple’s Remote, split between two modes: Presenter and Mouse. You switch between these modes using a slider switch on the face of the remote. In addition to this slider, the remote hosts a circular button surrounded by two large arrow buttons, left and right; and two smaller buttons near the top edge. A rocker switch on the right-hand side lets you adjust your Mac’s volume level, and there’s a power button on the left.

In Presenter mode, the large arrow buttons let you move forward or back in your presentation; the smaller button on the right starts your presentation; and the smaller button on the left blanks the screen during the presentation. The circular button activates the Presenter’s built-in laser pointer.

In Mouse mode, the left arrow button acts as a standard mouse click; the right arrow button acts as a control/right-click; and the circular button becomes a touch-sensitive control pad that lets you move your mouse cursor around your Mac’s screen—sort of like a tiny trackpad. (Targus calls this optical touch pad the Touch Scroll.) In Mouse mode, the two smaller buttons are programmable using Targus’s downloadable Mac driver, currently at version 1.0.0b1. (I found that all features except the programmable buttons worked without the driver installed.)

The Presenter’s Mouse mode worked better than I expected; I was able to control my MacBook’s mouse cursor adequately, despite the small size—less than half an inch across—of the sensor. However, you definitely lose accuracy compared to a mouse or the laptop’s built-in trackpad, and because the Touch Scroll is so small, it takes several swipes to move your cursor from one side of the screen to the other. In other words, you won’t want to use the Presenter as your primary input device; it’s for occasionally controlling your cursor during presentations.

Targus’s driver is technically still beta software right now, but it worked well during my testing. Using a new Targus pane in System Preferences, you can choose whether the Presenter’s two programmable buttons are configured for Keynote or PowerPoint (the two programs use different control schemes), and you can also choose custom actions for those buttons when the Presenter is in Mouse mode. Available actions include launching an application, performing a keystroke, running an AppleScript, as well as a number of predefined functions. Those functions include eject, print screen, select all, volume up or down, mute, Expose actions, Dashboard, play/pause iTunes, and back or forward in Firefox. Unfortunately, you can’t choose different actions for different programs; you get only a single custom action per button.

For a configuration example, I set the left programmable button to perform the keystroke Command+H in Mouse mode, setting the right programmable button to launch Keynote. With these settings, if I need to do a live demo during a presentation, I just flip to Mouse mode and press the left programmable button to hide Keynote; when I'm done, I press the right programmable button to switch back to Keynote, right where I left off.

The Targus software’s interface is somewhat confusing. When I first attempted to configure the Presenter, I interpreted the interface, shown at right, as letting you choose different custom button settings for Keynote and PowerPoint. However, these settings are independent: first you choose which presentation software you use, which determines the behavior of the various buttons in Presenter mode; then you configure the custom button settings for Mouse mode.

The Presenter isn’t the most-configurable presentation remote I’ve seen, but it offers a good deal of functionality while keeping the number of buttons to a minimum. (Some remotes offer so many buttons that it's difficult to keep track of which is which—not good when giving an important presentation.) In addition, the buttons the Presenter does provide are shaped obviously and arranged intuitively; it’s easy to use the remote by feel without having to worry that you’re going to accidentally press the wrong button. It’s not an inexpensive accessory, but if you’re a Keynote or PowerPoint pro, it's definitely worth checking out.

Among the myriad uses for a laptop is giving presentations using PowerPoint or, for Mac users, Keynote. In fact, for many notebook owners, it’s a primary use. Those who move around while speaking know the value of being able to control your presentation from across the room or stage, and Apple's recent laptops include an infrared sensor that provides basic remote control of your slides using Apple's Remote. But the Remote, while compact and light, lacks features and works only if you’ve got a direct line of sight between the remote and your MacBook’s infrared sensor.

The Presenter, a Mac-only product that’s part of the Targus for Mac line, uses Bluetooth wireless instead of infrared, which means better range without requiring a direct line of sight; you can use the Presenter from up to 33 feet (10 meters) away from your Mac, even if there are objects in between. Pairing the remote with your Mac is a simple, one-time process, much like the one you’d use to pair a Bluetooth mouse. Targus claims the Presenter will get up to six months of use from two AA batteries. (I haven’t used the Presenter long enough to test that claim.)

The Presenter offers considerably more functionality than Apple’s Remote, split between two modes: Presenter and Mouse. You switch between these modes using a slider switch on the face of the remote. In addition to this slider, the remote hosts a circular button surrounded by two large arrow buttons, left and right; and two smaller buttons near the top edge. A rocker switch on the right-hand side lets you adjust your Mac’s volume level, and there’s a power button on the left.

In Presenter mode, the large arrow buttons let you move forward or back in your presentation; the smaller button on the right starts your presentation; and the smaller button on the left blanks the screen during the presentation. The circular button activates the Presenter’s built-in laser pointer.

In Mouse mode, the left arrow button acts as a standard mouse click; the right arrow button acts as a control/right-click; and the circular button becomes a touch-sensitive control pad that lets you move your mouse cursor around your Mac’s screen—sort of like a tiny trackpad. (Targus calls this optical touch pad the Touch Scroll.) In Mouse mode, the two smaller buttons are programmable using Targus’s downloadable Mac driver, currently at version 1.0.0b1. (I found that all features except the programmable buttons worked without the driver installed.)

The Presenter’s Mouse mode worked better than I expected; I was able to control my MacBook’s mouse cursor adequately, despite the small size—less than half an inch across—of the sensor. However, you definitely lose accuracy compared to a mouse or the laptop’s built-in trackpad, and because the Touch Scroll is so small, it takes several swipes to move your cursor from one side of the screen to the other. In other words, you won’t want to use the Presenter as your primary input device; it’s for occasionally controlling your cursor during presentations.

Targus’s driver is technically still beta software right now, but it worked well during my testing. Using a new Targus pane in System Preferences, you can choose whether the Presenter’s two programmable buttons are configured for Keynote or PowerPoint (the two programs use different control schemes), and you can also choose custom actions for those buttons when the Presenter is in Mouse mode. Available actions include launching an application, performing a keystroke, running an AppleScript, as well as a number of predefined functions. Those functions include eject, print screen, select all, volume up or down, mute, Expose actions, Dashboard, play/pause iTunes, and back or forward in Firefox. Unfortunately, you can’t choose different actions for different programs; you get only a single custom action per button.

For a configuration example, I set the left programmable button to perform the keystroke Command+H in Mouse mode, setting the right programmable button to launch Keynote. With these settings, if I need to do a live demo during a presentation, I just flip to Mouse mode and press the left programmable button to hide Keynote; when I'm done, I press the right programmable button to switch back to Keynote, right where I left off.

The Targus software’s interface is somewhat confusing. When I first attempted to configure the Presenter, I interpreted the interface, shown at right, as letting you choose different custom button settings for Keynote and PowerPoint. However, these settings are independent: first you choose which presentation software you use, which determines the behavior of the various buttons in Presenter mode; then you configure the custom button settings for Mouse mode.

The Presenter isn’t the most-configurable presentation remote I’ve seen, but it offers a good deal of functionality while keeping the number of buttons to a minimum. (Some remotes offer so many buttons that it's difficult to keep track of which is which—not good when giving an important presentation.) In addition, the buttons the Presenter does provide are shaped obviously and arranged intuitively; it’s easy to use the remote by feel without having to worry that you’re going to accidentally press the wrong button. It’s not an inexpensive accessory, but if you’re a Keynote or PowerPoint pro, it's definitely worth checking out.

(Credit: Yanko Design)

The worst part of installing a home theater is getting the little satellite speakers around the room without wires running all over the place. How about getting them installed right where the lightbulbs are, or more specifically, inside the lightbulbs?

This idea is what a few designers put together and call the SoundBulb.

Basically, they want to put a Bluetooth wireless speaker inside an LED lightbulb. The speaker then works independently from the light, or with the light, to create different levels of illumination depending on the level or pitch of the sound.

The speaker can be controlled at the same place as the light switch or on the bulb itself, where the Bluetooth receiver is located.

This is actually a really cool concept, and, in my opinion, is doable as long as they figure out a way to keep the speaker from overheating and the bulb from exploding because of the high level of sound.

It's unclear when or if you'll be able to find these at a store. So let's just wait and see.