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courtesy of Motorola
Expect to see lots of drivers in California and Washington wearing cellular phone headsets come July 1, when they'll start risking being handed a ticket by a cop if they're caught holding a phone to their ear.
The two states join New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in allowing only hands-free phones behind the wheel. Because California has by far the most licensed drivers of any state - almost twice as many as second-ranked Texas - manufacturers of Bluetooth devices are looking at a potential bonanzaas millions of Golden State drivers go hands-free.
That explains why Motorola plans to roll out a car-specific Bluetooth headset in the next month or so. But what makes it better than a portable Bluetooth car "kit"?
It sounds like a bunch of marketing speak to us, but Motorola says the H620 Bluetooth headset is better because it has noise reduction and echo-canceling technology and the volume adjusts automatically to compensate for road noise. There's a car charger so you don't have to worry about draining the battery on a long drive and a dashboard holder so you don't have to search for it between the seats or in a cluttered center console.
The new headset also has voice-dialing for entirely hands-free calls, which could be its saving grace since any headset that requires taking your mitts off the wheel to place a call isn't really "hands-free." Even some embedded Bluetooth solutions, such as Chrysler's UConnect, require removing a hand from the wheel to activate them.
Bluetooth is now built into everything from [portable navigation systems](https://more-deals.info/cars/2007/10/portable-gps-na.html) to car stereos, so drivers in California, Washington and other places with hands-free laws have plenty of options. And with Bluetooth available as standard equipment even in economy cars like the Nissan Sentra and Ford's Sync system standard on all but the cheapest models, a hands-free system is a no-brainer if you're buying a new car.
But if you drive an older car, the Motorola H620 may be just the ticket for not getting a ticket.
Motorola says the headset will be available at a date and time to be determined, but we're betting it'll come in sooner rather than later and at a cost under $100. Look for a review of the H620 and a bunch of other Bluetooth headsets on June 25 over at Gadget Lab.
