A new fashionable Bluetooth headset is built on technology developed by the Pentagon. Aliph’s Jawbone 2 uses NoiseAssassin background-filtering technology
originally developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

NoiseAssassin lets jet fighter pilots on an aircraft carrier deck — or, say, moms in a busy grocery store — produce out clearly even when background noise is horrendous. According to Aliph, it decides which sound is your voice, and next separates that from other noise.

Fashionable Design

But technology is not the only reason that new headset is causing a buzz. Jawbone 2 comes in several stylish designs that more closely resemble earrings or other jewelry than a Bluetooth-friendly electronic device. It’s about half the size of the first Jawbone headset; weighs about 10 grams; will be available in black, silver, and gold; and has a retail price of about $130. Battery life is four hours of talk moment or eight days of standby.

As with

the first Jawbone, Jawbone 2’s fashionable look was designed by noted industrial designer Yves Behar. The emphasis on style has plus affected its functional design, with Jawbone 2 featuring an “invisible button” approach to achieve a clutter-free look. The user, for instance, operates switches on the phone by lightly pressing the outside shield, which has touch-surface technology.

A small white rubber nub touches the user’s cheek, providing a voice-activity sensor that detects vibrations as the user speaks. Aliph said it eliminates real-world noise better than any other headset considering it is the only one that can accurately separate speech from ambient noise. The noise-suppression algorithms created by DARPA were called for to operate in battlefields, helicopters, and other environments that are among the most extreme noise backgrounds for communication.

Voice-Activity Sensor

According to its maker, Jawbone determines how and when a person is speaking via two microphones and the voice-activity sensor,…

Orginal post by Top Tech News