Adrienne Owens

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There's much more to Bluetooth than a hands-free phone, says David Flynn. WHEN King Harald set out to unite the warring tribes of Denmark and Norway in about 970, the Viking ruler left a legacy far beyond anything he could have dreamt. His fledgling empire soon crumbled, but more than 1000 years later his nickname of "Bluetooth", bestowed for a discoloured tooth, was adopted as the name of a wireless technology intended to bring together devices centred on, but not limited to, the mobile phone.

For more information: What are the best car audio speakers in the world Medium.com

Pairing isn't limited to, well, a pair of devices. Bluetooth accessories can recognise as many as eight phones, which works a treat when a hands-free kit is fitted to a car shared by several family members. "When (we) switch on our headsets or hands-free car kits they look for the phone they were first paired to," says John Demezieres, manager for Motorola Australia's range of MobileME accessories. "If they can't see that phone, they automatically go into pairing mode again and look for another phone, and they can support up to four separate pairing profiles." Similarly, Nokia's BH-902 headset can be paired to a Bluetooth-equipped notebook as well as your mobile phone.

See also: Coaxial and component, Best Coaxial and Component car speakers

Find your way home Slip the slim Nokia LD-3W GPS receiver ($149) into your bag, backpack or car, download free mapping software onto your phone and you will get an accurate fix on your location with the option of turn-by-turn navigation. Radio Bluetooth In-car hands-free kits remain a popular mobile accessory. Motorola's T505 ($159) broadcasts phone conversations and music in full stereo over any vacant channel on the FM band so you can tune in on your car radio. It also announces caller ID and the FM frequency.

EyeTooth Motorola's natty D650 Bluetooth adaptor for the iPod beams your favourite music over Bluetooth and automatically pauses the tunes when you take phone calls. It is bundled with Motorola's S9 Bluetooth stereo headset for $209. Boom box With its slide-out speakers, Samsung's clever S5 digital music and video player ($249 for the 4 GB model) doubles as a speakerphone