Interphone stopping production?

[Jambo]

I'm looking for a either a bluetooth headset or similar for a Garmin Zumo I'm planning to buy very soon. I was looking at the Interphone bluetooth headset and realised I'd seen it somewhere before. After a bit of sniffing around I found it here.

If you scroll all the way down to the comments section, you'll find this;

From "R.H." (Australia) (4/09): Interphone intercoms no longer in production? This email from reader "R.H." in Australia indicates that is so: "I’m presently trying to evaluate a suitable headset combination for B2B communication and I’ve noticed that various retailers here are now quitting the InterPhone Bluetooth Intercom.

I contacted BlueAnt Wireless, for clarification that the InterPhone was in-fact being discontinued and their reply was quote “ unfortunately there is no definitive reason for this, I have been simply advised that the product has reached its end of life, in a sales sense”.

When asked if there was a replacement model available, their response was “hopefully in the near or distant future” which to me is a useless response but they do say they would be honouring all new and outstanding warranty claims.

One supplier did tell me that there was a problem sourcing chip sets but if the manufacturer has been building a successful product for the last couple of years then I can’t believe this to be a bona fide reason to discontinue manufacture, the other possibility is that BlueAnt are no longer the distributors here and possibly other countries as well.

The InterPhone looks to be the better performer from the reviews I have read so far but it would be an expensive exercise if they are not supported after the 24 month warranty period has expired.

Can you shed any light on this situation for me?"

Editor's Reply: I wasn't aware of this situation, which is possibly due to the current global economic situation. If anyone has more information about this, please let me know.

I'm not the most trusting person , so before I email the any distributors e.t.c I was wondering if anyone here had heard anything about this?

 

[Slowdown]

Bluetooth chipsets are ten a penny, so that bit's bollocks.....

Personally, I went cheap and use a iTech Clip thingy - they're usually ~£5 to £10 on ebay. but then I ride alone and if I want to talk to someone else I'll phone them on the mobile.

 

[Jambo]

Doesn't sound bad, to be honest I mostly want it for using with a GPS.

With the amount of hassle involved trying to find something that's decent quality I think I might just be better off just using the set of Shure in-ear 'phones I still have lying around somewhere...

 

[Interphone UK]

Interphone

This is simply not true - it is still in production AND we are working on an improved version.

And for those who only want a standalone BT headset we have the very competitive 'CityPhone' at GBP99.99 - physically identical to Interphone Universal, but without the intercom capability.

What does appear to be true is that the Australian and US distributors (BlueAnt) can no longer get supplies - some commercial hitch I imagine.

We have stock and happy customers at:
www.interphoneuk.com and can ship worldwide.

Watch this space for new models in the spring - no redundancy/obsolescence - just enhanced features...

BFN

Malcolm

 

[SeanC]

Want one!!!!!