Gizmodo: earpiece

SouthWing Bluetooth Headset Brings You News, Excuses to Leave

Elaine Chow — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:05:00 EDT

SouthWing and AT&T have paired up to offer a Bluetooth headset specifically catering to news junkies and evasive people. If your SouthWing SH241 earpiece is connected to an AT&T phone, it'll pipe the latest finance, weather, sports and other info straight into your head. Sure, an FM radio feature would probably do the same thing—but does FM radio also come with an “Instant Alibi” feature that lets you call yourself, so that when your blind date starts weeping softly about his second failed marriage, you can invent an emergency situation to get yourself the hell out of there? Yeah, didn't think so. It's available for $40 from any AT&T store. [Into Mobile]

Hearing Aid/Phone Combo Looks Cool, Seems Obvious

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 25 May 2007 17:10:00 EDT

You got this thing wedged in your ear because otherwise you can't hear what the damn whippersnappers are all yappin' about. Then along comes this other earpiece you're supposed to jam in your ear, so that you can talk on your cellphone while driving or juggling or whatever the kids are doing these days. Along comes some German designer who says, why not use the same contraption for both purposes? Figures.

It's so obvious, I wonder why Jawbone or Plantronics didn't think of it first. (Maybe they have—readers?) The trouble is probably execution. This prototype was created for an actual hearing-aid manufacturer, but the functional details are scant and in German. All Babel Fish could say is, "In this innovative hearing aid with navigational auxiliary functions applied it falls thus, one on older humans cut handling to develop user guidance and product diagram." Maybe your Deutsche is better. – Wilson Rothman

Hörgerät "Sinus" - Audia Akustik [Triagonale via Yanko Design]

Argard M10 Bluetooth Earpiece: Small Enough to Join the Flea Circus

Charlie White — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 12:54:40 EST

This is one fine-looking Bluetooth earpiece, even though it's just brochure-ware so far. The Argard M10 Bluetooth headset is about the width of a nickel, but its in-ear design still packs enough battery power to last all day. The company says it'll give you three hours of talk time and 100 hours of standby time, and weighs just 5 grams.

With its microphone so far away from your mouth, who knows how good it sounds? We just wish the company would create a dual-muff version that's good for listening to music, too. It seems silly to have a Bluetooth headset with wires connecting one ear to the other. Maybe this will be the solution. Someday. – Charlie White

Product Page [Argard, Inc.]

Micro Bluetooth Earpiece: Smaller Than a Dime, Spytastic, Handmade

Brian Lam — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:34:30 EDT

This Bluetooth headset is smaller than a dime, and small enough to be carried away by an ant. The thing is about 6mm by 5mm by 10mm. Ridica-malous! And could easily get lost in your ear. There's even a detachable buzzer, for simple communication with your poker card counting buddies, or friends across the room taking multiple choice exams with you. Who's making this wonder-gadget? Not Samsung or Motorola. A 25-year-old medical student in Russia. Before you shout Scamtastic, let me tell you more and show you the picture of this thing next to an ant. Seriously, jump!

The headset can link to phones, and audio bluetooth devices. The earpiece isn't a direct bluetooth device, though. No, it transfers audio by standard RF to a neckmounted mic, which then retransmits bluetooth to your phone. (Or Bluetooth iPod when it comes out. I swear, it's coming.) Also has a 3.5mm minijack output, which is just a standard headphone jack.

Hey NYTimes, you guys should write about this. Go ahead, the lead is yours.– Brian Lam

Micro Earpiece

Live From CES: Motorola H5 Miniblue

Noah R — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 20:15:18 EST

Moto showed a futuristic Bluetooth earpiece called the H5 Miniblue today. It's an in-ear speaker, about the diameter of a quarter, and it picks up your voice through your ear canal. It comes with a charging base that has a rechargeable battery inside. So you can plug in the base, charge it up, then unplug it and put the earpiece in there to charge while you are on the run. The earpiece itself gets only 1.5 hours of talk time, but it will fully recharge after 20 minutes in the base.