Another company that has been developing interesting Bluetooth headsets and speakerphones is BlueAnt Wireless, which is based in Australia (a blue ant is a somewhat unique and unusual flower wasp that is native to Australia -- see Wikipedia).
The BlueAnt Q1 Bluetooth headset is voice controlled -- It provides voice prompts instead of beeps for feedback -- and responds to over 20 spoken commands. When you receive a call, the Q1 reads the number to you, and then asks for your command to "Answer" or "Ignore" the call.
At other times, tap the BlueAnt button on the face of the headphone to prompt for a command, and then speak to redial, speed dial, check the connection, or check the battery (both for the headset and the phone battery levels).
You also can change settings like the LED light or voice recognition sensitivity level, turn off the headset, and even reset it by voice command (after a confirmation prompt).
The headphone has a slim profile, with the round BlueAnt button for commands and a side volume up/down button. It recharges using the supplied USB cable (although not a microUSB or miniUSB connector), and has a talk time up to 4 hours, and standby up to 100 hours.
The Q1's noise and wind reduction uses dual microphones and internal wind shields, with two voice isolation modes so you can turn on Maximum processing in particularly noisy environments. The Bluetooth support pairs with up to eight devices, and the Q1 provides true multipoint technology -- you can not only connect to two phones at a time, but you can maintain two live calls on the different lines, and switch back and forth between them.
And like several other BlueAnt headsets, the Q1 supports firmware updates over USB from a PC. The latest update adds Bluetooth A2DP audio streaming, for listening to music from your phone, as well as podcasts or turn-by-turn directions from a phone's GPS application.
The BlueAnt Q1 Bluetooth headset is list priced at $129, and is available online for around $79.
See the summary of Bluetooth headsets in my Holiday Tech Gift Guide 2009 article.
See my Audio Accessories Gallery for details and related products.
Find the BlueAnt Q1 Bluetooth Headset on Amazon.com