Parrot squawks about Bluetooth speakers

By Guy Cocker on 13 March 2006, 1:26pm

French company Parrot was showing off at CeBIT with one of the most innovative new products of the event -- a Bluetooth Sound System. This is two 60W speakers that can stream music from any Bluetooth-enabled device. While the mobile phone-carrying throng at the show caused some stiff interference, Parrot managed to show Crave how it could send music to the speakers and control them wirelessly.

Bluetooth speed may pale in comparison to the latest Wi-Fi, but the system is fast enough to cope with the wireless streaming of MP3 files. They're sent to the speakers in a digital format, meaning that all the processing of the audio is handled by Parrot's internal amplifiers. The speakers also have phono adaptors on the rear so that you can connect any audio device, and they'll arrive next month for around £230 a pair.

Parrot also demonstrated its love of Bluetooth with two more products at the show. One is a photo frame that connects wirelessly to your mobile phone, displaying any of your stored photos on the mini LCD screen. The second product is a headset designed specifically for drivers. The charger plugs directly into the cigarette lighter and gives power to the Bluetooth headset when not in use. All these products premiered in CeBIT, but will be available to buy in the UK next month. -GC

See our CeBIT 2006 Special Report for all the latest news, product announcements, photos and videos from CeBIT.