Articles about phones

. Using your cell phone as your primary mp3 player can be a giant pain in the butt when attempting something dangerous, like jogging. The problem is twofold: either you’re stuck with wires running from your phone to your ears, or you’re donning a set of Bluetooth headphones that are 1) less than fashionable and 2) too bulky to run with in the first place. The good news is, Nokia has finally solved that problem with the minimalist BH-214s.

The BH-214′s retail box includes three items: a Bluetooth headset/remote, a pair of headphones, and a charger. That first one is a small remote with a big clip – and is pretty much the brains of the outfit. The remote is actually the Bluetooth headset, and has a 3.5 mm stereo jack and Nokia’s standard charging interface jack.
And the nicest thing about the headset is that you plug in your own headphones, or Nokia’s included earbuds. Of course, headphone cable management could still be a problem, but it’s fairly easy to stash a long cable that’s only connected to a clip on your shirt.
Nice thing #2: AVRCP. This is the official Bluetooth Audio Video Remote Control Profile, which means there’s support for certain remote control functions like Pause/Play, Next/Previous track, etc. Trust me, this is a godsend. I have AVRCP on my current pair of BT headphones, and while I may look like an idiot pressing some buttons on my ear, I’m rocking out to the next track. And you’re not.
The only real shortcoming to the BH-214 headphones is battery life: you get up to 7 hours of music playback, and up to 8 hours of talk time. It’s not horrible, and in all probability will outlast your cell phone.
Expect the BH-214 headphones sometime in the near future. (by that I mean I have no clue when they’ll be released)