GN Netcom Introduces Innovative Noise Blackout Technology

Jabra BT530 First Product to Feature Noise Blackout(TM)

NASHUA, N.H., Aug. 13 -- GN Netcom, the world leader in innovative headset solutions, today unveiled an innovative new generation of noise cancellation technology. Noise Blackout(TM) reduces ambient sound without compromising voice quality, providing the perfect balance between noise elimination and the delivery of a natural sounding voice. The Jabra BT530, shipping to retail outlets nationwide today, is the first product to feature Noise Blackout technology.

Developed by GN Netcom engineers, Noise Blackout(TM) applies a directional principle to noise cancellation, reducing only surrounding noise and not distorting the users' voice. The technology uses dual microphones to capture sound, intelligently filtering background noise only. Other noise cancellation headsets cancel noise by cutting away audio frequency and reducing sound quality. Used together with advanced DSP technology and Audio Shock Protection that monitors incoming audio volume, sound is balanced to filter out background noise, leaving both sides of the call with a natural sounding voice quality.

"Our Noise Blackout technology is a completely new and proprietary technology that not only allows crystal clear sound but eliminates the 'tinny' sound that many noise cancellation headsets are plagued with," said Anne Rasmussen, Vice President, Mobile Division, GN Netcom. "The first of many products in the Jabra line to feature this technology, the BT530 also features A2DP for streaming music and Multiuse(R) functionality."

Dual microphones increase the amount of captured sound data, enabling the device to more intelligently filter the background noise. The DSP technology then uses the microphones to determine the direction of the sound or noise based on the sound delay between the two microphones, making it possible to filter out unwanted noise. The DSP also uses the dual microphone system to significantly reduce stationary noise. To eliminate the "tinny" effect, sound emanating from the mouth is enhanced and transmitted while all other sound is classified as noise and is filtered out.

The Jabra BT530 features auto-pairing technology for ease of use. Its multiuse capability allows the headset to connect to a mobile phone, desk phone and PC softphone at the same time, making it an ideal accessory for both in and out of the office. Weighting in at only .35 ounces, the BT530 is one of the smallest noise cancellation headsets on the market, making it comfortable for all day use. Enhancing the comfort is a removable ear hook and a selection of eight Jabra Eargels(TM) which enable the headset to fit in your ear. The BT530 features an understated style with an attractive mesh detail (symbolizing a microphone) that runs along its sophisticated curved form.

Key specifications of the Jabra BT530 include:
-- Noise Blackout(TM) technology
-- Dual microphone
-- High Performance with Bluetooth 2.0, including Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) and eSCO
-- Auto-pairing
-- Multipoint technology
-- A2DP & DSP technology
-- Acoustic Shock Protection
-- Up to 5.5 hours of talk time
-- 250 hours standby time
-- 33 foot range
-- 8 ear gels and one ear hook provided for added comfort
-- .35 ounces in weight
-- Micro USB Charger Connection

The Jabra BT530 will be available at retail stores nationwide starting in September for an approximate retail price of $99.99.

About GN Netcom

Through its Jabra brand, GN Netcom is a world leader in innovative headset solutions. With sales offices around the world, GN Netcom develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of wireless headsets for mobile users and both wireless and corded headsets for contact centre and office-based users. GN Netcom's business activities also include its original equipment manufacturing (OEM) business. GN Netcom has been helping people communicate since 1869 and is a listed company on OMX Nordic Exchange.

Helpful Headsets

Review: A $130 phone headset helpfully talks back

By Peter Svensson

NEW YORK

Bluetooth wireless headsets for mobile phones are puzzling: We're supposed to control them with a couple of unmarked buttons and get feedback from a single indicator light.

What is the headset trying to say when the LED is blinking that particular way? How do I connect it to a new phone? Do I press the big button or the small button, or both at once? The user interface is as cryptic as an alien artifact.

Last week, BlueAnt Wireless launched the first headset that, by comparison, is clearly from Planet Earth. The $130 V1 headset recognizes spoken English commands, and responds, also in English.

It's eerily like having an automated call center in your ear. It can't do everything that a standard headset combined with a voice-recognizing phone can do, but it's a useful advance for an industry that's been focused on everything except ease of use.

Headsets are marketed based on how much ambient noise they suppress, how small they are and how long their batteries last. Yet Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile, says 20 percent of the Bluetooth headsets it sells are returned. When the Best Buy employees "pair," or connect, a new headset to the customer's phone in the store, the return rate drops to a few percent. Clearly, a lot of people find these things hard to set up, and I don't blame them.

If you haven't memorized the procedure for entering pair mode with a regular headset and don't have the manual handy, good luck. Burning incense or tossing some salt over your shoulder might help.

With the BlueAnt V1, this is what you do: Press the big button once. A male voice says "Say a command." You say "Pair mode." Then the voice walks you through what to do on the phone to get it connected.

If you've forgotten the magic words, you press the button and ask "What can I say?" The V1 will patiently go through the commands it accepts. You can ask it whether the headset is connected to the phone, and how much battery charge is left.

When you get a call, the headset reads out the number, then asks whether you want to answer or ignore it. You don't need to touch the headset, as you do with competing models. Don't worry — people around you will get used to you blurting out "Answer!" Remember, years ago people who talked loudly to unseen friends while walking down the sidewalk were considered crazy.

So far so good. But the headset is quite limited in the number of terms it can recognize, and you can't train it to recognize or say new phrases. This means that when you receive a call, it will read out the number, digit by digit. It can't tell you "It's your wife calling again."

Another big limitation is that you can't dial calls from the V1 by saying the name of someone in your phone's contacts list.

You can, however, program seven numbers that it can call for you. Some phones allow you to program a speed dial for each number, from 1 to 9, and the V1 can use those — but it reserves 1 for voicemail and 5 for Google Inc.'s 411 service. So you can tell it "Call speed dial six" and it will do so.

Not all phones allow these sorts of speed dials. Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G is an example. In those cases, you have to get a call from a number before you can store it in the headset's own speed dial list. Then you have to press the "Volume Down" button on the headset to store it. This isn't exactly a usability advance over standard headsets.

If you have a phone that takes voice commands, those will work with the V1 as well. Since the headset can do things the phone can't, and vice versa, this is a good combination. When I tested this with a BlackBerry Pearl, pressing the phone's voice command button elicited a female voice in my ear, asking me what I wanted to do. When I pressed the V1's button, I got the male voice. It was almost like being 2 years old again and having my parents at my beck and call.

In other ways, the V1 behaved like a good, standard headset. It was comfortable to wear. Apart from the big "command me" button, there are two volume buttons. The rated talk time is five hours.

In loud environments, the V1 did nearly as well as the latest Jawbone headset from Aliph (also $130), which prides itself on military-grade noise suppression. Both are good enough that your main problem is likely to be the sound of the wind whistling over the microphone rather than ambient noise.

The V1 costs twice as much as an older BlueAnt headset without voice recognition, but my guess is you'll find it a good value, particularly if your phone lacks voice recognition.

The voice-recognition feature won't be unique to BlueAnt — it's provided by a third party, and it will probably show up headsets from a few manufacturers within a year. Beefing up the voice recognition to make it more versatile likely will take a few more years, but it won't be long before we can tell a headset to "Call my office and tell them I'll be in at 10, then book me a massage for 9, m'kay?"

Infobox1

Phone headset talks back

THE PROBLEM: Wireless headsets let you make calls without holding a cell phone, but the headsets can be hard to figure out how to use.

BLUEANT'S IDEA: The $130 V1 headset from BlueAnt Wireless recognizes spoken commands, and speaks its responses. This makes it simpler to get the headset running on your particular phone, and easier to dial numbers and answer calls.

NOTHING'S PERFECT: The V1 recognizes a limited number of terms, and you can't train it to learn or say new phrases. With some phones you have to get a call from a number before you can store it in the headset's own speed dial list.

Wireless Headset

Product summary

The goodThe good: Wireless USB communications headset for PCs; USB dongle requires no software installation; rechargeable battery; Windows and Mac compatible.

The badThe bad: Lackluster sound quality when used for gaming and music listening; not comfortable for long listening sessions.

The bottom lineThe bottom line: The ClearChat PC Wireless Headset is great for VoIP sessions, but it falls short on audio quality and long-term comfort.

Specifications: Type: Microphone Boom; Product type: Headset; Design: Ear-cup; See full specs

Price range: $79.99 - $99.99
CNET editors' review

    * Reviewed by: Jeff Bakalar
    * Edited by: John P. Falcone
    * Reviewed on: 08/28/2008
    * Released on: 06/15/2008

Wireless keyboards, mice, and printers have been around for years, but headphones and headsets are fairly new to the cordless party. Logitech's entry into the fray is the ClearChat PC Wireless Headset. Unlike the Creative Digital Wireless Gaming Headset HS-1200, which is targeted at gamers, Logitech sees the ClearChat as a jack of all trades, intending it to work equally well for listening to music, playing PC games that use voice cooperation, or for standard PC-based communications such as Skype.

The ClearChat uses a USB dongle that instantly sets the headset as the PC's speakers. We really like the ease-of-use factor here; there wasn't any complicated setup involved--you simply plug in the dongle, power up the headset, and you're all set to go. (The ClearChat works equally well on Mac or Windows systems.)

As with the Creative, the ClearChat has an embedded battery in the headset's right earcup. A 2.5-hour charge with the included AC adapter netted us around 6 hours of use, right on par with the estimate from Logitech. You can also use the headset while it's charging. The company claims the device will work within 33 feet of the USB dongle, but we found that the operational limit was closer to 20 feet--anything beyond that gave us an annoying static dropout. That said, the ClearChat ships with a 7-foot USB extension cradle (for the dongle), which will help to expand the transmission radius.


The charge port, volume, and mute buttons all rest on the right earcup.

The construction of the ClearChat headset feels less durable than that of the Creative HS-1200. The plastic headband is padded, but that's surrounding a thin flattened metal strip, which made it feel fragile when worn. This also did not allow the headset to fit as snugly as we would have liked, something the HS-1200 was successfully able to offer. We would have also liked the swiveling earcups to have been larger, as they were barely able to fit over our ears. That lack of a good seal meant that there was no sonic isolation--we could hear outside noise, and those nearby could hear sound from our headset.

Unlike the HS-1200 microphone, the ClearChat mic boom is not as malleable as you may like. The boom must also be lowered (although not completely, just halfway) in order to function. We liked the small red light on the tip of the mic that flashes when it's activated and stays lit when it's muted. The boom can also be lifted completely out of sight when not in use. The right earcup features volume up and down buttons, as well as a microphone-mute button for easy control access. This is also where you'll find the headset's power switch. There are not, however, any buttons exclusively for VoIP calling which we enjoyed on the Creative HS-1200.

In terms of sound quality, we were a bit disappointed with the performance of the ClearChat. In our trials with Counter-Strike, we found the explosions and other sound effects to be very underwhelming. There is very little range of sound that the headset can produce, which dampened our overall experience. Our voice communication tests fared a lot better, with our online teammates reporting an echo-free, loud and clear reception.

Source: wireless headset

Desperately in need of a wireless headset

For those who knows of any headset that is great please approach me
I am currently in search of a new reliable one as i have already had close to hundreds already



Wonder product