There was Bluetooth in 2005? Wait, I know the answer to this. Yes there was. My husband's former BMW was a 2005 and Bluetooth was built into the car.
Could BMW have done something similar with the Minis starting with their debut model? IDK.
Those walkie talkies likely have a slick modern name. but as my friends could not easily use their cell phones in Canada to talk to each other when they were separated by a few miles, they used the little comm. devices.
They looked more like the Star Trek communicators than any phone, so they are really sleek and well, something I'd like to get for our house. as separated as we are and with 4 dogs, 2 who are deaf.
I lost the URL to the podcast. I am not sure I believe a lot of what she says but maybe because we were told so little, new info seems almost " suspect" after so many, many years. IDK.