I get asked a lot to test new products. I do my best to test the ones that fit into my lifestyle, or as I get around to them.
Over the past few weeks I’ve tested the new Jawbone Bluetooth headset. I really wasn’t that impressed, it was difficult to change the pieces that fit in the ear, taking up way more time than devices from Plantronics or IQUA. Because I couldn’t get the right fit it provided me a less than subpar experience. On the other hand I gave it to my ultimate beta tester, my wife. She loves it, especially as she whirls around her medical office and has to talk on the phone and post notes to her Tablet PC while being on the phone. Helene says it really cuts down the noise and people on the other end seem to hear her better than on the Plantronics.
In my car I’ve been using the IQUA Snake2 Bluetooth Speakerphone. This is the best in car implementation of Bluetooth I have found. The sound comes from behind you, and my friend with the Golden Ears, KenRadio’s Ken Rutkowkski says it sounds like I’m in an office, not a moving car. That’s high praise as we both were in love with the BlueAnt speaker phone and still like it a lot. Since the Snake2 isn’t portable, the BlueAnt goes in my travel bag and along with my Garmin Nuvi, are like my American Express card. I never leave home with out them. The sound on the Blue Ant is room filling, and being portable, I’ve even used it on the go in some rooms where a speaker phone is lacking.
I’m also lined up to review OOMA, the T-MOBILE @ HOME and Magic Jack. Problem is, I’m not home as much these days and the idea of ripping apart anything versus spending quality time with my wife on weekends makes Helene the first priority. I’m likely going to try Magic Jack this weekend, but since my New iMac is waiting to be set up, it will be third in line (behind Helene and the iMac). Next will come @HOME because the new BlackBerry’s come out on September 27th and that means I’ll be able to use MY T-Mobile service on the @ HOME router and see first hand what the general market experiences. So far what I’ve seen of it, I’m liking. It sets up easy, and it just plain works.
As for the rest of the products, if its software or web based I get to those faster, especially if they are Mac centric. PC stuff is reserved for my test machine, as it takes too much time to rebuild a Windows machine when something goes wrong.