Aliph has added personality and loquacity to the latest generation of its Jawbone Bluetooth headsets, which go on sale today in the US at a lower price of $100.
Multiple personalities and voices in fact. Consumers can choose from the Hero, the Rogue, the Thinker, the Ace, the Bombshell and the Catch – six new designs with voices to match.
The earwear speaks information for the first time – such as remaining battery life and caller ID – in a voice in character with its persona.
San Francisco-based Aliph is also launching soon MyTALK, a website and platform for audio apps.
Jawbone owners will be able to log in and further personalise their voices, receive firmware updates and load apps such as Jott voice-to-text notes, voice-to-SMS, voice dial and directory assistance.
Aliph says the new family of Jawbone devices, branded ICON, are smaller and lighter than their predecessors. NoiseAssassin 2.5 with wind reduction further improves the technology for cutting down extraneous sounds. Inbound audio clarity and volume has also been improved.
Jawbone’sprevious-generation Earcandy devices , which cost $130, will gradually be phased out.
“It shows that we want to reach a broader audience,” Hosain Rahman, Aliph chief executive and co-founder told me, explaining the new lower price point.
Aliph is after the 87 per cent of phone users who have yet to be won over by Bluetooth headsets.
Its research has uncovered “a hundred different pain points” that put people off the devices, according to Travis Bogard, head of product management.
His own irritation with finding his headset dead in the morning has led to one improvement where Apple has allowed a battery meter icon for the headset to be constantly displayed at the top of the iPhone’s screen.
“More than 50 per cent of people didn’t like the way these things looked, so that’s why we built a variety of looks to get to different people’s styles,” he added.
So all heroes, thinkers, rogues, aces, bombshells and catches out there now have a Jawbone just for them.
