Stereo Bluetooth Headset Standard Isn't

Like the editor over at MobileBurn who wrote this piece, I had assumed that Bluetooth devices compatible with the A2DP standard (for listening to music in stereo wirelessly, rather than conversing through a cellphone headset) would generally work with each other, because that's sort of the whole point of having a standard.

However, their round-up of Bluetooth stereo headsets revealed that the A2DP profiles of several popular music-compatible cellphones don't work with the A2DP profiles of several popular headsets.

"And the winner is....nobody. At least at thispoint. It simply appears that there are far too many compatibilityissues between headsets and phones for any clear winner to emerge fromthis group."

"So what is a would-be wireless audio-head todo? Test your device with as many A2DP headphones as your local gadgetshop offers, and figure out which compromises you are willing to make.
If you are using a phone that works well with a few A2DP headsets,
consider yourself lucky and buy one.

"If not....well, there's always next year's models."

It's inevitable that the headphone cord is going away,
but it'll take a little longer if the A2DP standard doesn't reallyfunction as a standard. Or maybe (as usual) dedicated music devices,
when they start shipping with internal Bluetooth A2DP, will handlemusic functions better than multifunctional cellphones do.

(image of the BlueAnt X5 from BlueAnt)