There were several new telephone products at CES that brought new and innovative features to the marketplace.
The Panasonic KX-TH1212 phone system could be a good solution for a small office practitioner looking to save money on paying for a cell phone and an office landline. The system is an expandable bluetooth phone system that sends your cell phone call to a phone system with multiple handsets. You don’t need to bother connecting the cell phone each time because the bluetooth signal automatically is picked up the phone system. This is also an obvious solution for saving the cost of a landline at home as well. And at a retaile price well under $100, the price is right.
If you are in your car a lot and agree that handling a cell phone is annoying and dangerous (and even illegal in some places), you might want to get a bluetooth car kit which acts as a speaker phone wirelessly connecting to your cell phone. I’ve had one of these gadgets for over a year, but the products have been rapidly improving. LG’s HFB-500 is very small, is powered by solar energy and has 16 hours of talk time and an amazing 1,100 hours of standby time between charges. The street price on the HFB-500 is around $75.
One of the first gadgets I bought for myself after seeing something at CES is Plantronics‘ Discovery 925 Bluetooth Earpiece. I’ve avoided using the clunky, ugly bluetooth earpieces I’ve seen on the market, but this vframe design caught my attention and it is small and comfortable. And at about $75, it is also reasonably priced.