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Plantronics claims Bluetooth headset breakthrough

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 13 Mar 2003 08:31 GMT

Headset specialist Plantronics announced on Wednesday that it will launch a new Bluetooth headset later this year that will boast significantly better battery life than products already on the market.

The M3000 is due to hit the shops in early summer, and is aimed primarily at mobile workers. Plantronics declined to announce price details, and also didn't say exactly what battery life the M3000 would have -- but did promise it would "set new standards" for mobile users.

"Frankly, the majority of [Bluetooth headset] products disappoint users -- not in their performance but in their battery life," said Paul Clark, Plantronics European marketing director, who claimed that current claims of four hours talk time were not being delivered.

"The M3000 will set a new benchmark in talk time," Clark promised, speaking at a press conference at the CeBIT ICT trade show in Hannover, Germany.

Plantronics also cited recent research that claimed that 70 percent of mobile phones will be Bluetooth-enabled by 2006, and that Europe would make up 60 percent of the worldwide Bluetooth market this year.

At the press conference Plantronics also announced that it was launching the CS60, a DECT-based wireless headset for office workers, this summer.

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