Jabra Freeway makes car dialing effortless

The Jabra Freeway  a beautifully compact and sleek in-car solution for hands-free phone calls certainly fits that mold. The Freeway clips onto the driver's vanity mirror and acts as a voice-controlled window into your smartphone an elegant solution for those looking to reduce the possibilities of distracted driving. Its surprisingly powerful speakers can also play music streamed to them via Bluetooth. The Freeway, once paired with your smartphone in an earlier set-up process, will automatically know that your phone is in range, whether it's in your hand, pocket or briefcase. Just as soon as you sit down in your car, the Freeway reassures: "Connected," it says. From there, it allows you to control phone calls through voice commands. As calls come in, you can choose to answer or ignore. Calls can also be initiated with voice commands. Calls are broadcast into the vehicle's cabin through the Freeway's excellent speakers, and the placement just above the driver's head makes for a seamless experience. Callers on the other line heard almost no remnants of the typical car noises that can make regular speakerphone conversations nearly inaudible. The call quality was also better than most of the Bluetooth headsets I've used. The Jabra Freeway will announce an incoming call as it comes in and, on some phones, will say the name of the caller. Phones must support a Bluetooth standard called Phone Book Access Profile for this to work fully. The verbal caller ID did not work with the Apple iPhone 4 I tested it with. The Freeway comes with a year's subscription to Voice Assist, a service that allows you to send e-mail, texts through voice commands. Users can also post to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. After the free trial, the service costs $4.95 a month. That service might not be needed, though, as the Freeway also allows access to your phone's built-in voice commands. The Apple iPhone has several voice-command options, but success is often spotty. The Jabra Freeway can also pair with up to two phones, which is a great option for those with work and personal cell phones. Most Bluetooth headsets can only pair with a single phone at a time, and the cumbersome pairing process can make it difficult to switch back and forth. The Freeway can also transmit audio from phone calls to an empty FM station on the dial to use your car's stereo system as a big speakerphone. Jabra says the Freeway will last for 14 hours of talk time and 40 days of standby. The device automatically turns itself off when you, and your phones, leave the car. The device is recharged through a charger built for your car's power points.