Tech.Wapline

Bang & Olufsen, known for their quality (if expensive) audio equipment, has put their expertise into a Bluetooth headset that promises to cut out background noise so your conversation is easier to hear.

The EarSet 2 headset features audio technology able to filter out environmental noise. Two omni-directional microphones filter and suppress wind noise, giving the best voice transmission possible.

Added to this, the loudspeaker in the EarSet 2 is a miniature closed cabinet loudspeaker unit, supported by air vents and a bass port together with an ergonomic design. Its frequency response gives a high degree of tonal clarity.

Each call is optimised with B&O’s Digital Signal Processing (DSP), which monitors both the dynamic technical and tonal qualities of the signal in order to accurately reproduce the human voice. This means that not all transmission noise is eliminated, as this would create dead sound in natural pauses.

The headset features a short fold-old microphone arm, which also switches the unit on. The ear piece is three-way adjustable, and the whole unit is made from aluminium and soft-touch plastic.

B&O’s attention to detail even extends to a specially composed ring tone, the melody of which has been adapted for placement close to the ear.

The headset has a transmission range of up to 10 metres, with a battery life offering up to four hours of talk and 100 hours standby. It weighs 22g.

The EarSet 2 headset is available now, price to be confirmed.

The Q Internet Phone consist of a pair of 2W stereo speakers, a microphone, a webcam, and speakerphone functionality. You just need to hook this device up to any available USB port, install the necessary drivers, and ensure your Skype account is up and running before you start chatting away for free with other Skype users. Its echo cancellation microphone has a pick up radius of up to 5 meters while the webcam can be concealed to keep dust from the lens. No word on pricing yet.

Creative, in an apparent effort to do battle with Apple’s iPod Shuffle, has announced their bite sized iteration of the MP3 Player, the Creative Zen Stone.

As an addition to Creative’s Zen line, the Stone bears resemblance to Zen Micro, Zen Vision:M, et al, in that has a distinctive rounded shape to it, and comes in multiple colors: Black, Red, Pink, Blue, Yellow, and White. The player has a dedicated button for shuffle playback, a feature that we have heard somewhere before…Hmm.

The 1GB player weighs .88 ounces, and measures in at 2.1″ x 1.4″ x 0.5″; small, yet not unprecedentedly so. As per usual, it supports the MP3, WAV, WMA, and Audible file formats, and can playback these files for up to 10 hours continuously.

The Zen Stone is currently only compatible with Microsoft Windows XP (the site has no mention of Vista) and can be used in conjunction with Creative’s proprietary software.

iRiver announced the iRiver B20 - Digital Audio Player with 2.4inch 260,000 color TFT-LCD display, Mini SD-card port, built in T-DMB recording and integrated FM Tuner.
There are two iRiver B20 versions available on the market: 2GB for 160 euro and 4GB for 200 euro.

iRiver B20 Features:

# 2.4inch 260,000 color TFT-LCD display
# Triple-band support (Band 3 + Band L + Analog FM)
# Frequency: 174MHz~240MHz(Band 3), 1.452GHz~1.492GHz(Band L)
# 1GB/2GB/4GB flash memory capacity, with Mini SD card expansion slot
# Built in T-DMB recording
# Integrated FM Tuner, voice recorder and alarm
# Supported file types: MP3, WMA, OGG, AVI (MPEG4), WMV9, JPG
# Battery life up to 17 hours (MP3), 4 hours (Video), 7 hours (DAB), 4 hours (DMB)
# Intuitive iriver D-Click Systemâ„¢ navigation
# Built in speaker

Atree announced a new mini PMP - UJ10. Atree UJ10 has 2.2 inches screen, audio player (mp3, wma, ogg…), video player (mpeg4, wmv9), images (jpeg, bmp, gif), text, voice recorder, mini-games, FM radio and of course DMB (TV).
The Atree UJ10 is available in 2 versions: 2 or 4GB, only in Korea. No any price information.