If you have a Bury CC9060 and the output volume seems low, change the AUX plug on the kits ISO harness from the current 3.5mm socket to the vacant 3.5mm socket. Volume should be increased by at least two fold.

In recent years, the bluetooth market has exploded with all sorts of solutions to pair your phone with your vehicle. The most recognised of these solutions is the Parrot Bluetooth range, offering a comprehensive collection of devices suited to everybody.

Although the Parrot kits are value for money, a rival system is becoming increasingly popular and unless Parrot are careful, the Bury CC9060 may steal the number one top spot on today’s market.

The Bury CC9060 offers the user full voice activated calling, answering and phone book navigation. What this means is that the user does not have to even use the touch screen display available, as all functions can be accessed by spoken voice. With the ability to pair with up to 10 phones and store 1000 contacts on the kits internal memory, the Bury gives the Parrot Mki9200 a run for its money.

For more information and video demonstration please click here.

 You’ve done a little research into bluetooth kits and come to the conclusion that your probably going to choose parrot. They have the brand name and reputation for producing good reliable products. The problem is which parrot bluetooth kit to choose? With more than six integrated solutions on the market, which product will be the most suitable for you?

Let us help you split them down a little. Firstly they can be split into two groups the CK range and the MK range, the latter is the most recently launched. The CK Range are still the most popular bluetooth products on the market. Mainly due to the price however reliability is also a good factor especially with the parrot CK3000.

The MK range are the newest products launched onto the market and perhaps haven’t had the time to overtake the CK range in terms of popularity just yet. The main difference between the CK & MK range is the music functionality. The MKI range have an integrated solution which is compatible with iPod & iPhone and is controllable through the parrot remote control.

Each product in the range has a superior leading upwards in price, which offers an “upgrade” feature. For example the MKI9000 offers Bluetooth and Music, The MKI9100 offers the same functionality however with a upgrade small screen so you can see who’s calling & what music is playing. The MKI9200 offers an improved screen with more clarity & the ability to pull pictures from the phone. So you can see a face as well as the number. Being the newest products to market the MKI range are still more expensive than the CK range.

The main choice when choosing which parrot bluetooth option to go for is to first select your range first then choose which feature’s are most desired for you.  

Parrot have been making bluetooth kits for years, and have gained a reputation that dwarfs all competitors. When most people think of bluetooth they will always think parrot bluetooth.

However, the latest release from the acclaimed manufacturer, has nothing to do with bluetooth technology, but it still does relate to your mobile; well if you have an iPhone at least.

There are speculations circling to why they decided to make their latest product, but all of those aside, we think they just wanted to have some fun, and if it strengthens the brands reputation at the same time, then why not.

What the brainiacs in France decided to do, was create a helicopter that could be controlled from an iPhone, and if that wasn’t cool enough, they fitted forward facing and ground facing cameras that can be viewed from the phones screen. Combined with accelerometer based controls (tilting the iPhone) and a clever autopilot program, the helicopter can be flown with pinpoint accuracy by the most novice of pilots.

The AR Drone, which the helicopter is known by, uses wifi technology to connect to your iPhone, and because of this, it can also connect to an iTouch or iPad. Using a high output Li Poly battery you get up to 15 minutes fly time, which is more than enough time to exhaust your mind keeping the agile “eye in the sky” away from obstacles. The best is still to come however.

So you have a helicopter that flies by wifi from your mobile, how about you send it into battle with another drone controlled by your friend, shooting it down with missiles and other ordinance. Well obviously the average civilian cannot be trusted with real missiles, so its all virtual. Parrot call it augmented reality, as it combines virtual simulation and actual flight, the camera feed on the screen will show simulated target boxes and ordinance projected, along with tracking the enemy using colour recognition. The drone still flies around, so you need to ensure you don’t crash, unless you are out off ammo and feeling a touch suicidal…

Bluetooth Car Kit Direct are giving an AR Drone away in their Christmas competition. Anyone who purchases an integrated bluetooth system from the web site from now until the 20^th of December will automatically be entered into a prize draw. The winner will be picked at random on the 21^st, and the Drone will be delivered in time for Christmas.

For years, Parrot bluetooth kits have dominated the market, building up a brand so strong that anyone looking for a bluetooth kit will automatically think Parrot. Although Parrot do have an excellent product range, their kits use telemute leads that bypass and mute the vehicles radio, which means they have several disadvantages. The main disadvantage being the kit cannot be controlled by the factory fitted stereo so a separate display and controller is required.

For a lot of people, having after market units present in the vehicle is an eye sore, and many seek a solution that works with what is already fitted, especially when steering wheel controls are present.

Dice have always offered the very best in vehicle integration for BMW, their simple connection utilises the BMW pre wired CD changer lead that was fitted as standard to most vehicles (3 and 6 Pin connectors). The interface effectively emulates a CD changer, showing the iPod text as CD MP3 information. Their last kit, the Silverline Pro, allows you to search your iPod from the stereo by album, artist, track and play-list, as well as also giving you the ability to control the iPod from the mp3 player itself.

Dice step up to rival manufacturers by incorporating iPod integration systems with hands free calling with their new Media Bridge MB1500.

The MB1500 is essentially the Dice Silverline kit with and integrated bluetooth chip. The kit can support music playback from iPod, Auxiliary and USB, giving the user a wide range of options to listen to their MP3’s, the kits text display ensures all iPod and USB information is clearly shown on the vehicles display.

In terms of bluetooth, the kit will connect to 99% of phones on the market today, displaying who’s calling, along with all of your phone book contacts. When a call is received, the music playback is muted, and the sound from the call is played through the vehicles speakers. The MB1500 microphone provides the audio input for the call, which is also cable of handling voice dialling, all at the touch of a button.

Dice did have an issue a few years back when Apple changed the way their iPods received charge. Millions of consumers were effected when iPods moved from 12V to 5V charge, and Dice shared some of the issues with their kits. Thankfully this issue has been addressed and all of their kits, including the MB1500, now fully support 5V charging. On the same note, both the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4G are fully supported by the Media Bridge.

Currently the MB1500 is only available for BMWs built up to 2006. From 2007 onwards, BMW use the fibreoptic MOST system and you need a Dension Gateway MOST product to connect your devices.

In summary, if you are looking to integrate your iPod and phone into your BMW, the Dice Media Bridge will offer you the most effective solution, with the least amount of fuss and clutter. It takes no more than an hour to fit, and with its competitive price, it easily runs circles around its competitors.

 There are a lot more than 10 reasons why not to use a mobile phone when driving, however i’ll keep it short and snappy. After all i’m sure you will all agree with most of what i’m about to say, and if you only take just one point away with you. Think about it, think about why your thinking about it. Then do something about it.

Reason number One: Points on your licence.

Quite a shallow reason to start with but a valid one non the less. Nobody wants points because it ultimately results in a ban. You get points because its considered dangerous driving. Think About it.

Reason number Two: Penalty Fine.

Again a fairly shallow reason, however who enjoys getting a fine? I don’t know anybody. The fine can be especially difficult to swallow as many handsfree kits that cost half the amount of the fine given. It doesn’t take a genius to realise what people should be doing.

Reason number Three: Suspended Licence.

You don’t have to do it all the time, Its only takes one second for it to happen. If a police officer spots you it and you already have points could mean the end of your driving licence for 12 months. What does that mean for you? No transport, social life or job? Think, is it worth it?

Reason number Four: Reduced awareness.

If you text when driving its the equivalent of being three times over the alcohol limit. We don’t tolerate drink drivers so why texters?

Reason number Five: Reduced ability.

If you don’t have a bluetooth car kit you have to physically hold the phone to talk. If you do this you break contact with the vehicles controls reducing the ability to drive it. Even an idiot can see the potential consequences of these actions. If you are an idiot and can’t work it out, Its DEATH.

Reason number Six: Concentration.

Its easy to loose concentration when talking or texting, especially if its something your passionate about. Combine it with point 4 & 5 and you have a recipe for disaster.

Reason number Seven: Prison sentence.

If your convicted of dangerous driving you could get jail time, especially if you cause a major accident. Just think 12 months in jail for one text or call that could be sent in 10 minutes time?

Reason number Eight: Your Family.

Its strange that most of us don’t think about what were doing when we drive & how dangerous it actually is. I mean, we drive a 3 tonne lump of metal around at 70mph and higher relatively close to somebody in front and behind, and people coming in the opposite direction. Do you really need an excuse to not drive responsibly? Just think of your family before the inevitable happens.

Reason number Nine: Somebody else’s family.

If your serial texter who doesn’t use a bluetooth car kit when doing so. Think the next time you do it, it might be your last. Or the family driving towards you. Could you live with that on your conscience? I doubt it.

Reason number Ten: Time.

I seriously doubt that a text or call is so important that you have to answer it immediately. I mean, what is that important? With the possible exception of your wife going into labour i’m fresh out of ideas. You have all the time in the world to call or text back later.

There you go, ten reasons not to use your phone when driving. The other exception to all the above points is to use a bluetooth car kit. Fair enough it wont guarantee all the above will not happen, but if at least you do choose to phone and drive you will be much safer doing so with bluetooth car kits.

If you are unsure of what Bluetooth car kits are you probably will be soon. Penalties are getting much stronger for using a mobile phone when driving, in fact the punishment has doubled in the previous few years. The point of which is to impose a greater awareness and the consequences of doing so. If you are caught using your phone or another hand held device you run the risk of incurring a 6 point penalty and £60 fine, which is more than a slap on the wrists for most people.

However this is very lenient compared to the burden weighing on thousands of people’s shoulders who have to live with the knowledge they caused an accident and harmed another person or family carelessly & needlessly.

What type of person knowingly puts another persons life at risk? Well the answer is most of us. Most of the road users in the UK knowingly and openly use their mobile phone illegally when driving. In fact after reading this article, make a mental note of how many you see doing so the next time you drive. I’d be very surprised if its less than 10 every half an hour driving.

If were all honest with ourselves we’ll probably admit doing it too, the fact is its too easy & tempting to to just pick it up and chat for a few seconds. What harm can that do? We all have driving experience and can multi-task right? Wrong. Its a combination of factors that make it dangerous including reducing the physical contact with the car operating controls.

The point is that the majority of accidents where a mobile phone is the cause are avoidable, simply by not answering or making the call, however if it is a necessity the use of bluetooth car kits offer a much greater and safer and more convenient option regardless of what kit you are using. The worst bluetooth kit on the market is still safer than not using one.

This is why a lot of vehicle manufacturers are adding bluetooth as an option when purchasing the vehicle, I know Ford are offering it as a free upgrade at this point in time (in the UK). Possibly more as a selling tool rather than a moral decision, however the option is still there.

So do us all a favour, either use bluetooth car kits when you drive or don’t use your phone. Can you live with somebodies death on your conscience? I know I couldn’t.

Over the last few years, the internet has been flooded with "cheap" bluetooth kits, giving customers the opportunity to get a great bargain on the most recognised bluetooth brands on the market.

However, it is not a bargain when you look more closely at what you are actually buying. All the "cheap" kits are non UK stock, which posses several problems. The major drawback is that the Manufacturers will not cover the warranty if it is non UK stock purchased on the UK market place. Also when EU stock is used, sometimes foreign languages are preset onto the kit, so navigation is difficult and in rarer cases English is not even available as an option. Another disadvantage of buying Non UK stock is that no technical support will be given so if you have any issues with the kit you will be left to figure the resolution out for yourself. Currently it is apparent that the two leading manufacturers, Parrot bluetooth and Bury THD are mostly affected by Non UK "Grey Stock" and we would certainly advise you remain vigilant that the kits you are buying are genuine UK models.

Bluetooth Car Kit Direct is proud to announce that we only supply genuine UK bluetooth products, which means you get the Full 1 year warranty, full technical support, English speaking kits and on top of all of that, you are also covered by our 30 day money back Guarantee.

Fair enough the kits are priced higher than the Non UK units, but I think you will agree with us that it is worth the extra knowing that your bluetooth kit is covered if it fails in the future. We also ensure that all of the kits we sell, including parrot bluetooth are new, sealed units, where as a lot of retail companies sell the kits unsealed to their customers.

There are more cars on the road now than ever before. Combine this with new technology & the need to be in contact with everybody every minute of the day, and it could spell disaster for 1000’s of road users daily.

Some new statistics state that more than 50% of road users in the UK have illegally used their mobile phone when driving more than once in the last week, and a figure around 85% have used their phones while driving in there life time.

To decide whether handsfree kits offer improved safety, we first have to discuss how using a mobile phone is dangerous. There is no doubt amongst the experts that it is. Using a mobile phone is dangerous for two reasons.

Firstly when talking on your phone whilst driving you have to break contact with the wheel & car controls to do so, and by breaking contact from the vehicle you also reduce your reaction time by up to 4x.

Secondly concentration is lost when talking to other people, less attention is paid to the road and more on the conversation taking place. This is a natural occurrence & no matter how much we feel we can over compensate for doing so we cant, again this reduces reaction time. Combining both together when driving can result at the very least dangerous driving.

We now come to the title question, Do bluetooth handsfree kits improve driver safety? Well there are arguments for both sides of the debate. The opposition mainly concentrating on the second point made earlier, that concentration is lost when making a phone call & to be honest the use of a handsfree car kit doesn’t really improve this. However do we only hold conversations over the phone or do we also have them with the passengers we carry? I don’t know anybody who carries passengers and doesn’t talk to them at some point during the commute. Who defines whether this is more or less acceptable than doing so over the phone?

The problem is there are so many distractions when we drive already which are equal to talking over the phone, and not necessarily from inside the car. These distractions occur every minute where driving & its up to us whether or not to take notice (most of the time we don’t). However this is where the counter argument comes from.

Distractions are a common occurrence, and talking on the phone is no more of a distraction than say reading an advertising board, playing the number plate game or even singing along with the radio. The point is, if we outlaw the use of phone kits where do we stop, do we make it illegal to do anything other than drive. Were not allowed to take our eyes of the road & our hands from the steering wheel, no talking, listening to music or anything other than driving? Would this be more dangerous due to boredom?

Phone Kits are considered to improve safety due to the fact you no longer have to hold the phone to have a conversation. Your hands remain on the steering wheel & eyes on the road. In fact the process is the same as talking to somebody next to you. Using phone kits aren’t illegal, however if a police officer thinks you are driving dangerously due to using a phone kit or changing the stereo or CD or even talking to a passenger you can be prosecuted. It is the drivers responsibility to gauge whether they are capable or doing so safely.

One thing is for sure, using bluetooth car kits does improve ease of making or receiving a call & allows the driver to concentrate on driving properly. Its certainly a better option than not using one. Parrot Bluetooth is a good place to start when considering a car kit.

If you want a bluetooth car kit most people automatically think of the brand Parrot, it has the brand awareness that most companies would die for. Almost on the same level as google. You’ve heard of the phrase “Google it” haven’t you. Well most people contact us think parrot is bluetooth, and are unaware that other brands are available. Even though there is a competitive market for bluetooth car kits. Brands such as bury, motorola, nokia and many others are readily available most people only relate to parrot.

For all there dominance, do parrot produce the best bluetooth products especially over competitor brands that offer a very similar version?

From our experience parrot do offer very competitive kits, each kit providing something different to the other variations of parrot kits. For example the new parrot range the MKI, has three versions. The MKI9000, MKI9100 and the MKI9200. Each offers the same bluetooth and additional functions such as iPod. However each of the upgrades offer a better screen, which allows for better integration of bluetooth phone book, ipod music library and other functions. However there are other extremely good kits that offer the same level of integration and functions.

The Bury cc9060 provides excellent voice recognition software which in our opinion is second too none. Simply select voice on the screen and speak the commands you want it to perform. Its such a simple feature that really improves the functionality of the kit and adds additional safety features and value for money.

Parrot MKI range do also have this feature, although we find it a little more difficult to use.

The parrot does have some negatives, firstly the systems are difficult to use unless you purchase one with the screen & there is a lot of grey stock sold online without UK warranties. Be sure to check the parrot is genuine before hand and return it immediately if you purchase one that isn’t.

We find the Parrot brand best for several reasons including style & integration, functions & features and easy of installation. The ease of use is on par with other products but generally speaking you will be happy if you purchase parrot bluetooth