Bluetooth alpine goggles let you multitask on the slopes

(Recon Instruments)

Want to read your text messages while blazing down the pistes? Recon is unleashing a Bluetooth version of its trend-setting Transcend GPS-powered alpine goggles. The next generation goggles hook up to your smartphone to access playlists, caller ID, and text messages.

Recon is showing off the Bluetooth eyewear at the Ski Industries of America (SIA) Snow Show, January 27-30, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.

The new Bluetooth goggles can also connect to a video camera, with the LCD screen within the goggles acting as a viewfinder. In addition, they feature a navigation system with buddy-tracking and integrated trail maps. No information yet on pricing or release date.

Available now, Recon's Transcend alpine goggles, released last year and the first of its kind to feature a GPS system, feature glove-friendly finger buttons with a micro LCD display that appears as an image in front of you. The goggles claim to be safe and unobtrusive for both front and peripheral vision - you also have the option to turn off the GPS feature and just use them as regular goggles. Price: around $399 (€295), but expect the Bluetooth model to cost a bit more.

If you prefer your goggles GPS-free and less expensive, the Oakley Crowbar Goggle Kaleidoscope Iridium get top reviews from consumer blogs and magazines thanks to a wide visual range, fog-free lenses, and molded frame to keep out the cold. Price: $145 (€107).

Other new goggles debuting at the SIA Snow Show include Scott's Notice OTG, featuring a mechanical adjustment that allows a custom face and nose fit. Also an innovative new design in kids' helmets is Smith's Cosmos/Galaxy helmet-goggles combo, featuring easy-to-wear goggles that snap into either side of the helmet with magnets: no more struggling with pulling goggles over your kid's face.

Now in its 39th year, the SIA Snow Show is the largest, most concentrated trade event in the snow sports industry, attracting more than 20,000 industry professionals and unveiling new products and gear.

http://siasnowshow.snowsports.org

http://reconinstruments.com/
http://www.oakley.com/

Watch a video on the Transcend goggles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1oA_8yh4gE