Product Description

Take your iPods performances even further with the BluEye from GEAR4! This kit includes 3 accessories that will help you get even more out of your MP3 player. Just like the iPhone, the BluEye enables you to make and receive calls directly from your iPod. It works with most mobile phones with Bluetooth connectivity, and even displays the number of your caller on your player. And when someone tries to get through to you, it automatically pauses your music and tells you. You wont be missing any more important calls with the BluEye around!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3162 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Gear 4
• Model: PG82
• Released on: 2006-12-11
• Dimensions: 19.68" h x 19.68" w x 19.68" l, .88 pounds

Features

• Make and receive calls on your iPod
• Plug'n' Play with most Bluetooth enabled mobile ph
• Caller Number ID displayed on iPod screen
• Automatically pause and resume music for incoming
• Last 9 numbers redial from your iPod

Manufacturer's Description
Bluetooth hands free mobile connection with FM radio and remote control for any iPod

Ever missed a call because your iPod music was too loud? Fed up of fumbling around as you take out your iPod headphones and find your mobile phone? The BluEye" seamlessly connects with your mobile phone via Bluetooth to allow you to:

1) Take calls on your iPod

With BluEye connected, when you have an incoming call on your paired mobile, your iPod's tunes automatically stop and a ring-tone cuts in. The in-coming number appears on your iPod's screen and you can accept or reject the call using the BluEye's buttons. BluEye will pick up your voice via its inbuilt microphone and you hear the caller's voice through your headphones. so your mobile never needs to come out of your pocket. As an extra bonus, once the call is finished, your tunes will automatically cut back in!

2) Make calls on your iPod

If you've missed a call while listening to your iPod, simply use BluEye's buttons to scroll through your 9 most recently received calls and call them back with the touch of a button. Again, no need to go anywhere near your mobile! To make a call to any other number, simply dial the number from your mobile and the call will be transferred to BluEye so you can enjoy the call hands-free. (Subject to phone settings).

3) Listen to the radio on your iPod As well as connecting your mobile phone and iPod, BluEye also acts as an FM receiver, allowing you to listen to your favourite radio stations on your iPod. Auto-scan through strong frequencies, store up to 15 favourite stations and then scroll through your stored frequencies all via the BluEye's buttons

4) Control your iPod remotely

Finally, if you want to use your iPod for its original purpose, as we all do from time to time, BluEye is a remote control with play/pause, volume control and track skip functionality. Couldn't be easier.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Close but no cigar
This product is an absolutely brilliant idea, and I was looking forward to trying it out. It's a real shame that the actual product doesn't live up to the idea.

Initially I had to do a firmware upgrade to get it to work properly with my iPod classic. Once done, the radio worked much better, although everytime you change station it disconnects & reconnects to update the display. Not perfect, but it works. Reception is good too, even when i was sitting in the office.
As for the phone connection, this is the best part. It works very well and it was no problem before or after the firmware change. Stops the music, gives you a tone to indicate a call. One button press and you're talking.

My biggest problem was with the sound quality. I bought good quality earphones for use with my iPod cos I use it a lot, and I love my music. The styles vary but anything that's bass heavy or "noisy" (rock, metal, louder classical pieces) is distorted and frankly unlistenable.

For this reason, using this remote would ruin my listening experience which would quickly become annoying, and it's being returned an hour after I got it.

Great idea, not quite a great product.

Good but needs improvement
I bought this in june 2008 because I cycle into town a lot so I can use the remote to change tracks, pause etc and take phone calls hands free when cycling which it does admirably.
However there are a few annoying features.
As mentioned buy another reviewer as soon as you touch a button on your phone to send a text or what have you the music pauses and if you start again it will stop with the next button press so you cannot send a text or take a photo or anything on your phone while listening to music. I have an iPod touch, I think it is probably the same with a normal iPod.
The second niggle is the clip on the control is not big enough so it falls off whatever you clip it to all the time and the inside surfaces of the clip being smooth don't help either.

I use it all the time though because I can live with these niggles and a firmware update may become available for it to cure the aforementioned issue.
I have my ipod set with pin code access for security which means without the remote plugged in I have to unlock it each time I wish to pause or change volume which drains the battery a little due to the screen illuminating so it is very good for that.
I'm happy with it but not entirely satisfied.

Things that they don't tell you in the product hype
If you're not using the iPod touch then this unit probably works well. It's well built and well specified. I'd imagine a lot of touch customers will, like myself, be attracted by this product. It seems crazy that Apple didn't include blutooth on the touch, it's crying out for it. But claims on the Gear4 website, and all the literature I read, that the touch is supported are stretching the truth somewhat. Yes you can take and make calls with this when connected to the touch, and listen to the radio and use it as a remote, but don't expect it to display caller numbers or radio frequencies on the iPod touch. You just get the old "accessory attached" screen. So finding your favourite radio station is difficult and seeing last numbers called isn't even an option. This is despite downloading the current touch specific firmware from the Gear4 website. Nowhere have I seen, and I've looked very carefully, a disclaimer that some features may not work on this iPod model. I emailed the Gear4 support about this and their response was that they are working on firmware to correct this, but have no release date.

Another annoyance with this unit is it keeps resetting my calendar back to 1st January 1970! I intend to email them again with this and maybe they will include a fix with the new firmware. When it arrives. Until then I'll have to put up with my calendar reminding me of every appointment and birthday of the last 38 years when I reset it back to today's date.

A further disappointment with this product, that affects all models of iPod, is that it doesn't stream what the iPod is playing to other blutooth devices such as bluetooth headphones. So anyone thinking that they will have less wire in their pocket from buying this will find they actually have more as in addition to their headphone cable is the cable from the iPod to the device. Or if you have a blutooth car stereo you will still need that piece of cable that connects to the front of it. A shame seeing that the unit has a blutooth radio but isn't fully utilised.

I rated this product 4 stars based on the assumption that it works seamlessly with other iPods. As generally speaking people seem happy with it and the touch is fairly new so you have to give them chance to develop firmware. But I still think that they could tell touch owners that "some features may not work as described" especially given that they have a firmware version specifically for the touch. So looking at this before I bought it I naturally assumed hat this would sort all of the issues. It doesn't, it just works exactly the same as the Blueye straight "out of the box".