When my Motorola H850 bluetooth headset died I was beside myself with agony for a proper replacement. I had grown quite fond of the boom to turn on/off the device and answer calls; it was a real battery saver. My only complaint with the H850 is volume - it was never loud enough.

Side note: most (if not all) Bluetooth headset reviews fail to mention how loud the earpiece gets. I suppose an actual measure of decibels would be nice, but a statement such as “I could hear very well with my car window down” works for me. Even better, “the earpiece is so loud I can’t keep it at the loudest setting, even in my car driving at highway speeds.”

A trip to Fry’s unearthed the Jabra BT5010. What caught my eye: the familiar boom. Most of the BT5010 reviews were positive so I went with it and thus far, satisfied. To top-line it for you:

• Louder than my H850; I have to lower the volume for most calls but driving in the car requires it to be louder
• Easy to use on/off/pairing button instead of a single function answer/power button
• Sliding boom: easily answer/end calls but this does not control power
• Appearance: while the black body might stand out attached to your ear, it’s not chromed out with giant blinking lights
• Attachment: Jabra uses a twisting ear hook which accommodates use on the left or right ear; the hook keeps the BT5010 secure against your face. You can jog with this thing without fear of it falling off. For maximum comfort you might need to adjust the ear hook but I don’t keep anything attached to my ear for an entire day
• Ear piece: Jabra doesn’t use their popular gels with this model; although the gels provide a custom, and comfortable, fit I find they easily fall off in your pocket or as you jam the whole headset into your ear
• Pocketability: the device is solid, the ear hook is strong, and without ear gels, you can easily pop this into your pocket without fear of breakage
• Charging: a big selling point of the BT5010 compared to other units like the BlueAnt X3 is the miniUSB charging plug; no need to carry “yet another” charger or buy a custom tip for your iGo

The headset has been a solid performer for months although I have a few criticisms:

• Sliding boom is too delicate: if you touch it, even slightly, it will hang up the call. It seems the sensor is near full extension which guards against an accidental acceptance of a phone call, however it means an increase in accidental hang-ups
• Replacement ear hooks: the “Gumby-like” ear hook broke after a couple of months of use. Fortunately a five-pack of replacements is inexpensive the Jabra Store
• Answer delay: when a call is placed there is a solid two second delay before the microphone is activated. The other party might ask another “hello?” or wonder if you’ve hung up on them

These issues aside, the headset has worked well and battery life has not diminished with successive recharging. The BT5010 is not the most svelte headset available but it’s a workhorse.

I’ve been using a debranded Nokia N75 since I switched from T-Mobile to AT&T Wireless. On numerous occasions I want to hurl this device into the depths of Hell while I laugh fiendishly. Don’t get me wrong … Nokia knows how to make a great device like the N95 but they have some real stinkers like the N75.

My firmware version:

V 10.2.055
24-04-07
RM-128

The list of bugs I encounter on a regular basis:

• Bluetooth connection with headset overwhelmed by static: restart BT or reboot phone
• Image Gallery out of memory viewing an image: reboot phone
• Web browser out of memory: reboot phone
• On one phone call, accept another, drop second call, cannot return to first call: need to terminate the call and start over
• Email auto-check stops working: no idea
• Full bars, call drops: no idea
• Terminate one call and rapidly dial another: won’t make the call
• Searching for a contact: the first character takes an eternity to display on the screen and there is no buffering
• Predictive text has an incorrectly spelled word: no idea how to fix

Rebooting the N75 every few days (or every day) takes care of the memory bugs but the others remain. Many times I have considered getting an N95 but Nokia’s track record of software updates is abysmal. My unbranded E61 was testament to this and now my craptastic N75.

I suppose there’s a reason Apple has grabbed more than 25% of the mobile device market in less than a year.

It was only a matter of time before iCal, .Mac, and Plaxo caused a catastrophe. This afternoon, out of nowhere, my iCal calendars were duplicated three times. Figuring it was Plaxo’s doing I removed those calendars (from Plaxo) and within seconds it nuked everything in iCal. After a quick trip to Time Machine, iCal was restored to working order and I told Plaxo to reset its sync point. This got iCal and Plaxo working again.

After an iSync my Nokia N75 had two copies of each calendar entry. iSync’s Reset Device option didn’t work and I wound up with three duplicate entries. Nowhere could I find a method to delete calendar entries from the N75 so I started poking around Symbian’s Sync feature. It wasn’t long until I realized Apple’s iSync held the answer.

I removed the N75 from iSync and re-added it which presented a pop-up menu for handling a first-time sync. The best selection was Replace All Data on Device and with fingers crossed I clicked on Sync Devices. A few minutes later the N75’s calendar was back to normal.

In short, try iSync’s Remove Device instead of Reset Device when attempting to delete badly synchronized data from your mobile.

My father was asking whether I’d be bothered with having to replace an iPhone’s internal battery after two years. According to Apple any li-on battery can be recharged “a large number of times” before the capacity is diminished to 80% of original.

This got me thinking… I have never replaced a mobile phone battery whether it was user serviceable or not. I just kept a charger nearby or, more truly, bought a new phone 2-3 years later.

IMO, most consumer electronics become obsolete (or become broken) in three years and mobile phones might last 12 months before they’re eclipsed by more attractive models. This doesn’t mean you need to buy a new phone every year but if you’re in the Nokia club you do, likewise, the iPhone users will too.

Should Apple have considered a user replaceable battery? Certainly, but in the interest of commerce or industrial design they didn’t.

Shortly after I signed on with AT&T and before I dropped T-Mobile, I performed some speed tests on each of their EDGE networks. Devices used:

1. Nokia E61 (UK) with firmware version 3.0633.09.04
2. Nokia N75 (US) with firmware version 10.1.282 (AT&T)

The Nokia E61

T-Mobile (1 to 4 bars)

#1: 100 KB / 41 kbit/sec / 3.129s latency
#2: 100 KB / 11 kbit/sec / 4.065s latency

#1: 50 KB / 61 kbit/sec / 3.255s
#2: 50 KB / 23 kbit/sec / 2.562s

AT&T (all bars)

#1: 100 KB / 127 kbit/sec / 1.22s
#2: 100 KB / 107 kbit/sec / 1.674s

#1: 50 KB / 72 kbit/sec / 1.571s
#2: 50 KB / 67 kbit/sec / 1.323s

The Nokia N75

AT&T (all bars)

#1: 100 KB / 86 Kbit/sec / 0.848s
#2: 100 KB / 98 kbit/sec / 0.864s

#1: 50 KB / 42 kbit/sec / 0.864s
#2: 50 KB / 58 kbit/sec / 0.869s

T-Mobile test is not possible due to locked device at the time.

AT&T has better coverage in my area and their EDGE network runs faster than T-Mobile. According to reports they did enhance EDGE speeds with the introduction of the iPhone and it’s nice to see the improvement on other devices. Surfing with the Nokia Web Browser is a more fulfilling experience at the faster speeds.

I’ll have to re-test with the unbranded N75 and see if the results change.
When I get a minute I’ll run the tests on my debranded N75 and see if they change.