Bluetooth users get some help

NEW YORK (AP) — Bluetooth headsets, the tiny earpieces that make people look like they’re talking into thin air when they’re on their cell phones, have been a success story despite often being maddeningly difficult to use.

They have tiny, unlabeled buttons, and usually only communicate to the user with a single indicator light. Getting a headset to “pair,” or connect, with a phone can be frustrating when the manual isn’t handy.

Silicon Valley company Sensory Inc. has developed an easier way to control Bluetooth headsets: talking to them.

Using a prototype from Sensory this week, an AP reporter was able to pair a headset with his phone by holding down a button on the headset and saying “Pair mode.” The headset responded that it was going into pair mode, and later confirmed that it was connected, all in a friendly female voice.