Jawbone founder Hosain Rahman interviewed: "The market was crap"

Those design nuts over at PSFK recently talked with Hosain Rahman of Jawbone fame. The new headset is turning heads with its design chops and technical noise-canceling merit, so it's interesting to hear the impetus behind the upcoming product: "The market was crap and the offering sub-standard." Hosain's Jawbone headset, designed by Yves Behar, was built to be an alternative to the cheap Asian imports. The Jawbone includes frills like medical grade plastic, since a headset touches the skin for so many hours a day, and of course that vibration sensor (to activate the noise cancellation) and dual microphones are a nice step up from the average headset. Hosain views himself in the "audio gateway" biz, which sounds like a good place to be, with consumers increasingly tethered to iPods, cellphones and VoIP sessions, and Bluetooth convergence of all three imminent. Peep a Jawbone shakycam unboxing vid after the break, or hit up the read link for the full interview.

[Josh Chaney @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:07PM]

I picked one of these up yesterday at my local Cingular store. It's supposed to be a Christmas present from my wife, but I couldn't help opening it up and making a couple of test calls with it. It really does seem to work as advertised. I cranked up my stereo and made a phone call to a friend and asked if he could hear any music. He said it was completely silent. He also said my voice sounded clear, not tinny, or like I was on a speaker phone. I can't wait until after Christmas to play with it some more. I have played with many bluetooth headsets and this seems to be the only decent one I've used.

[Jonathan Sundy @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:13PM]

I still protest that it's deceptive to name it the Jawbone when it doesn't use bone-conduction technology as part of it's noise reduction regime. I was pretty excited reading the original news blurb until I investigated further.

Perhaps if the reviews are as good as the first poster's I'll check it out, but my main operating environment is a convertible which is near impossible to talk in on a regular headset.

[captainmicahp @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:30PM]

This should have gone under CE-oh no he didn't.

[Quentin @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:33PM]

The video on their website borders on humerous. The cameraman actually tries to unbox while filming...

Merry Xmas All!

Quentin.

[Anthony @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:35PM]

I got one of these yesterday too. The quality of sound is good, but my only concern is that it doesn't have a volume control that goes low enough for me. I felt like I was going to go deaf using the thing (everyone's so loud & I have my phone set to virtually no sound output).

[Shermie @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:39PM]

You think that with all this technology they would use a hat cam or something. It's painful to watch him struggle using one hand.

[Douglas Pearce @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:45PM]

The designer's name is actually "Yves Behar" and not "Yves Berhart." He's actually quite famous in the design world -- see http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/behar.html.

Best,
Douglas

[SpineDoc @ Dec 22nd 2006 1:46PM]

My GF picked one up yesterday for me. My main reason is that I have a convertable and any other headset sucks. It's too cold to test with the top down, but otherwise it is pretty good. Better even than the Blueant which I also have. Earpiece volume is surprisingly clear and loud, which is a rare treat these days. Not super loud, but better than any other headset I have used. It has 6 levels of volume.

Others who have heard me say I sound crystal clear, but I havent tested in a super noisy environment yet.

Design overall is meh. It's a little large, and I thought the outside would be some cool magnesium alloy or something, but it's only cheapie plastic. The talk button is tiny and a bit hard to find in a rush. The fit is very meh, the earpiece is hard to situate correctly, and does not stay in the ear canal, a longer design that plugs into the canal would have been awesome, more like the bluespoons. The over the ear piece is HORRID, it is stiff and is a major pain to affix to the ear, taking a good several seconds to put on. Once on its fairly comfy and light, but moves around a lot with everyday head movement, needing constant adjusting to keep the earpiece sound pointed into the ear canal.

Overall a good unit. Not sure if Im keeping it, will have to put down the top in this 30 degree weather to test the wind function.

[Jonathan Sundy @ Dec 22nd 2006 4:03PM]

Take one for the team and go for a spin.

A skull cap, scarf, and the heat on full blast.

[Joe Buhler @ Dec 22nd 2006 4:39PM]

According to Walt Mossberg's review of Jawbone it is horrible in windy conditions!

[NeoteriX @ Dec 22nd 2006 3:21PM]

So the person can hear you in a noisy environment. How about the inverse? Can you hear a conversation with this thing in say... a club?

[Steven Palter, MD @ Dec 22nd 2006 3:31PM]

this is a bit deceptive as jonothan says -- there is no jawbone (ie bone conduction ) technology here such as is used in the nextlink miltary and police modes- this uses standard DSP electronic noise reduction with a switch that tells it when you are speaking. real jawbones rely on sound conduction thru bone and are silent. need to check this out and see how well it works

[Antonio @ Dec 22nd 2006 3:49PM]

Im SICK of left-hand-unboxing! what's that? Blair Witch Unboxing Project?!? Comon guys, just BUY A TRIPOD and turn ON the lights.. those videos SUCKS. :(

[DesignFarmer @ Dec 22nd 2006 3:55PM]

Beautiful. I must have one. Yves always does good work.

Just one question, though... Is this OBE movie of an in-store retail display box or a negligent amount of anti-green overpackaging?

[evan @ Dec 22nd 2006 4:00PM]

Ugh. Someone needs to clip their fingernails.

[Landincoldfire @ Dec 22nd 2006 4:24PM]

Someone needs to send me one to review, the back ground noises we have at work will put this to the test.

Think about a semi-truck hydro-pak, running at 1200 RPMs while unloading animal feed on site. I have drivers call me in the office and all I can hear is a jet engine buzzing in my ear.

Do you hear that Jawbone Santa!

[rizwan @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:02PM]

I have a convertible and drive with the top down if it is not raining, which is most days in SF. I went for a spin at highly illegal speeds with the top down and my windows down today. People that recieved my calls said that it sounded great.

[Lev @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:32PM]

How much does this cost?

[Sam @ Dec 22nd 2006 5:44PM]

Worst. Unboxing. Ever.

[Michael @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:08PM]

everyone is saying they picked one up can someone say the price. I checked cingular's website and its not their. I would like to know the price of this really badly please.

[Brian Evers @ Dec 22nd 2006 6:40PM]

$119.99. Got mine today at a Cingular store. So far it works great. I cranked my stereo in my truck and my friend on the other end couldn't hear it.

[jh @ Dec 22nd 2006 11:57PM]

Picked one up today and it works flawlessly. The unit has to actually touch your face (*shockingly* it's against your JAWBONE, thus the name) in order to work. I am not sure what Jonathan and Steven are talking about in terms of it not utilizing bone conduction... as the company makes pretty clear that the big deal is their noise shield technology and describes what it involves (bone conduction being mentioned exactly 0 times). I'd offer that since it functions kind of like a throat mic, the Jawbone name is a nod to where it gets it's vibrations from as well as where it sits on your face. I am not certain, but regardless of the technique or method - the results are phenomenal.

According to people I have talked to I sound normal, natural, and clear. I have toggled the "noise shield" on and off while talking to someone with my head next to a TV on full blast - night + day. I have had more headsets than I would care to list, and this is the first one that's been worth the money. The only reservations I have is that there seems to be more latency from pressing the headset's talk button to connect or disconnect calls - a minor annoyance; and (as previously mentioned) it takes a bit of time/effort to put on. However, I have not had any issues with it moving around - it helps if you take the time to try the 4 additional earbuds and earloops to get the right mix.

[Interstink @ Dec 23rd 2006 12:15AM]

Picked up the Jawbone the other day on a whim while looking for a Treo 750 - Now thats a joke... Lets not even go there.

LOVE the Jawbone! This is the best BT Headset I have ever had, and I have tested all the so called "BEST" models. People have no clue im walking down Michigan Ave. in the Windy City. This is a MUST try/have!!!

[persnipity @ Dec 23rd 2006 4:30AM]

If you slide the headset onto your ear from the top and then twist up to get it seated properly, it makes putting it on much easier and faster

[david @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:46AM]

I don't usually post when I have only negative things to say, but I must agree - this is 2006, almost 2007. You are sitting with a product that a lot of people are interested in and you are going to unbox it - drop the one hand camera phone and get serious. I don't know what psfk is but by the looks of it, it's not serious.

And to you Engadget - shame for posting this amateur hour unboxing. Painful to watch. I hope 2007 is the year you set up your own little lab with an HD cam and some good lighting and do your OWN unboxings as you must surely have the opportunity for.

[zkv @ Dec 23rd 2006 2:24PM]

I got one yesterday thanks to engadget's announcement. I have preferred to use theBoom O or theBoom Quiet corded headsets because by comparison, any BT headset just plain sucked.

When I dumped my Treo for an 8525 I had to use BT. I have been using the Plantronics DSP 645 Discovery which I was fairly pleased with. That Plantronics unit could be described as a solid contender for "best BT headset".

However, the Jawbone is better. Take time to select the earpeace and earloop and set the volume. If your environment is still too noisy, you will have to buy theBoom Quiet and use a cord.

[Charlester Williams @ Dec 23rd 2006 7:12PM]

Maybe I am doing something wrong or I have a bad unit, but I rushed out two days ago and purchased this headset from Cingular. Was really pleased with the packaging ets. But when I tried the headset out, I found the sound quality to be horrible. I called several people with the TV up loud and everyone said I sounded terrible using the noise cancellation. In fact, it seemed like the only thing that was cancelled was my voice. I even called my answering machine six times and toggled back and forth with the noise cancellatiaon feature, It was absolutely horrible. It was like the two mikes were clashing with one another and nothing could be heard over shrills do to the headset trying to drown out the loud TV

Like I said this has been the worst headset I have seen. Perhaps I have a bad unit or maybe some of these other reviews are questionable. I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt and go exchange the unit for another one. But until I see otherwise, this is an absolutely horrible headset. It could not cancel the noise of a lou TV, ket alone anything else. I will keep everyone posted after I go and exchange the unit.

One other point, the unit is huge. It borders on a bit ridiculous. If it wasn't so fashionable I would completely rule it out. But for sure, people will notice that you have a big gadget sitting on the side of your face. You absolutely could not get away wearing the unit discretly in a business setting.

I am sorry everyone, I am a normal joe blow that has no allegiances to anything. I am simply trying to be truthful and helpful to all of the other joe blows who want their hard earned money to count for something.

C

[Hosain Rahman @ Dec 24th 2006 4:11PM]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the comments and responses. I appreciate all of your feedback on the Jawbone Bluetooth headset. I wanted to address some of the issues raised in the various postings:

1. The way our technology works is that there is a small voice activity sensor that rests on the cheek and tells our algorithms definitively when the user is speaking. It does so by detecting the vibrations in the jaw that only occur when we speak. We also have two microphones that constantly scan the user’s background environment (500 times a second) to understand and characterize the noise by making a model of it – its spectral content, where it is coming from, and how it is changing over time. So what we end up with is two pieces of information that are critical to improving mobile audio quality – we know exactly when the user is speaking and we know exactly what the background noise is. No other solutions that we are aware of in the marketplace are able to get the same amount of information that we are and as such this is really the foundation of our advantage. Both pieces of information are critical to our performance, but it all starts with the voice activity sensor understanding when the user is speaking through its contact with the skin. Hence the name Jawbone. We have been utilizing this approach since the late 90’s and that’s why we have the trademark and the pending patents. It is not conventional bone conduction as some of the responses correctly noted. The reason we do not use our sensor to characterize speech the way bone conduction techniques do is that bone conduction techniques often end up muffling the speech, making you sound like you are taking through a tube. Bone conduction technologies often loose the fricatives (off the mouth sounds like p’s, b’s, and f’s, etc.) and thus loose a lot of the nuances and intonations that make up our speech. We think it is absolutely critical to preserve as much of the intelligibility of human speech as possible and unfortunately bone conduction does not do this. When we teamed up with DARPA in 2001 to optimize our solution for their battlefield communications needs, they chose our technology because of the ability to cancel out a large amount of the noise while still preserving intelligibility.

2. I noticed one user couldn’t get the unit to work. First thing I would suggest is to make sure that the voice activity sensor (white nipple) touches the skin. If it still does not appear to work I would make sure that you are holding the black button down for at least three seconds – this will turn the technology off. If you don’t hold it down for long enough it will just cycle through a volume table. You can turn the technology back on by holding the black button down for another 3 seconds. If the unit still does not work reset it by pressing the middle button on the charging pads – the middle of the 5 charging pads is actually a hard reset button that is detailed in the user manual. The product works - the noise suppression performance has been tested extensively and validated by independent testing labs and guys like Walt.

3. Wind – We have never claimed to block out wind. Wind is a vibration issue that plagues almost every headset and handset on the market today. Wind literally blows over the microphones and actually physically pushes the membrane in the mic. There are some solutions that have utilized mechanical techniques (like the boom muffs, etc.) to solve these problems. We are always working on new ways to improve our performance in wind. In our first (wired) product we had a wind mode that utilized the voice activity sensor to actually characterize the user’s speech (like bone conduction). It sounded so muffled (like bone conduction) that we were not willing to accept the degradation in speech quality and intelligibility. So we removed wind mode for this product and believe that ultimately even if you can hear the physical vibration of the wind, you can still hear the user’s speech loud and clear. We’ll keep you posted on our progress on solving this wind problem once and for all.

4. The fit of the product is something that we are always looking to make better for users. We definitely want your comments on how we can make the headset more comfortable for you. Please bear in mind that we have 4 different interchangeable earbuds to find the best in the ear experience. We are willing to look at additional solutions as people’s ears vary so much, sometimes from left to right. The earloop is made out of metal to make it strong, but it is flexible and shapeable to be able to conform to the particulars of your ear shape. You can and should absolutely flex the earloop to find the most comfortable configuration for you.

In any case please let us know if you have any additional comments. Relative to my saying that the “market was crap” - it is an unfortunate summary in Piers’ own words of a long conversation we had about the state of the market when we decided to build our own Bluetooth product. We thought that we could bring our unique technology into a market where we had heard a lot of user complaints about the audio quality of the products that they were using. In fact audio quality/noise performance was the number one complaint we heard from users and retailers alike. We’ve always had a commitment to design and also felt like we could apply these skills in building the product. We think design is critical because ultimately these are products that people wear on their faces and whether we like it or not the aesthetics and comfort along with performance matter a lot.

We look forward to all of your comments and definitely keep them coming!

Best wishes to all for a happy and safe holiday.

Hosain

CEO + Co-Founder
Aliph

[Kevin @ Dec 25th 2006 2:22AM]

Hosain,

You may want to look into the fitted 'eargels' that accompany the Plantronic Voyager headsets. As far as comfort goes, it's quite an improvement despite the inferior technology. Their headsets can oftentimes be worn without the ear loop, but that may be a function of the smaller size and weight of the product. If Aliph does decide to offer new interchangable earbuds in the future, it would be nice if they continued to use the same locking mechanism.

[faisal @ Dec 29th 2006 12:03PM]

Hosain,

Can you please tell us what is the best way to get feedback to you on your headset? do yo have a forum? Is there a website? I wish there was a more formal way of getting information back to you.

I love your headset and would like to share with you feedback to make it even better

[djomni @ Aug 1st 2007 8:36PM]

I would like someone from the executive level to contact me regarding your headset. I just dropped over 100.00 for this headset and it DOES NOT WORK. It works worse than the plantronics 655 that I SOLD because I believed the hype of this headset. I have a samsung a920 and used over a dozen bluetooth headsets with it without a problem in connecting only in sound quality..but this one wont even stay connected, and it does not work!!! please contact me 214.432.9045

James Neal

[Kevin @ Dec 25th 2006 1:18PM]

Previously had a Plantronics 640 headset but the my girlfriend complained constantly about the ambient noise. Was waiting for about a year for Motorola to come out with the Miniblue H5 until I read the review of the Jawbone in the Wall Street Journal. Agreed, the website demonstrations seem cheesy and rigged, but Cingular has a 30 day return policy so I figured I'd give it a try.

Unit costs 120 dollars and was so new that Cingular rep didn't even know they had it in stock. Have tried the headset in extremely loud situations and it definitely works as advertised. Unfortunately it's not nearly as comfortable as my Plantronics, but it could be that I am just not used to the ear loop. Additionally the size is much larger, but doesn't really look too horrible on your face. Have not tested in wind however 95% of my bluetooth use is in my car (with the Plantronics I had to make sure all music was completely off, A/C was off, and even then people could still hear me driving on the road), so wind is not really a factor for me since I don't walk around with my bluetooth on.

But for now, I'd recommend it. The battery life seems much longer than the Plantronics but there is no indicator of battery strength except a beep when life is low. The charging system is much better than the Plantronics, though, it clicks in secury and can be charged via USB or outlet.

For the person who said he couldn't get the noise cancellation to work, try holding down the button for a full 3 seconds. I was testing it with a friend and pressed the button and it beeped twice, so I thought it had turned on. My friend told me there was no difference so I tried holding the button down longer. At that point I got a 3 tone jingle (not the two beeps) and it was quite clear to my friend that all the ambient noise had dropped. Also make sure that the white mic on the inside of the unit is actually touching your face, otherwise nothing will pick up (I suspect that is the problem). If that does not work, exchange for another set, your unit might be defective.

[BobM @ Jan 4th 2007 12:56AM]

I too read Walt's review and ran out to get one. Unfortunately, I found only a marginal difference with Noise Shield on. I checked the settings and made sure I had proper placement on my face. No luck. I'm going to return it and get another one to try. The reviews here are so consistently positive that I have to believe I have a bad unit.

As for fit, I'm very happy with it. I find no fault with its weight or size.

[gdubs @ Jul 13th 2007 9:34AM]

Bob - I know your post is half a year old, but I seem to be sharing your experience and am curious if the new Jawbone worked for you. Thanks

[BillDoE @ Feb 3rd 2007 8:39AM]

Ok people if you are going to show a video of anything. Try to point some light on the subject..lol And damn that thing is ugly, even in the dark. ;)

[matt musillami @ Mar 3rd 2007 4:11PM]

I just purchased mine online at http://www.avediamedia.com and it works great! Couldn't find it anywhere else but they had it in stock for $119.99 and I received it in a few days. They have the silver model available in Cingular packaging. Once you try this product, you won't believe how well the noise cancellation works! You can have your radio on in background and all that comes through is your voice.

[Edmund @ Jun 4th 2007 12:54AM]

I heard about the Jawbone on Leo Laporte's "Tech Guy" show a few weeks ago. I had a broken Jabra BT250v, and wanted a bluetooth headset that was comfortable and could be used in a noisey environment. The Jawbone suits me perfectly. I made some minor alterations to it, I had to bend the earloop a little to give the Jawbone a better fit on my ear and I use the Jabra eargels that came with the BT250v. Now it stays in place on my ear and I can be heard, and hear on all of my calls clearly. This is undoubtedly the most comfortable and best working headset i have ever used, wired or wireless. I don't understand why some of the other posters think the Jawbone is so large, haven't any of you seen the Motorola bluetooth headsets?

[Jonny @ Oct 11th 2007 9:31PM]

looks like a hand
grater

[Chris @ Jan 10th 2008 3:44PM]

I would like to have more indication of battery level and a gradual volume increase or decrease. My 2 year old plantronics headset gave me that. The fit took a TON trial and error but it works well now. Overall I am sold. Also isn't this headset over a year old? Is there a newer model?