Jabra STONE Bluetooth headset brings extreme noise blocking, $130 price tag
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 20th 2009 9:44AM
posted Oct 20th 2009 9:44AM
Okay, so this thing is way more "traditional Bluetooth headset" than "a round object that looks nothing like a Bluetooth headset," but we'll give the marketing team credit -- STONE sure got us looking. Jabra's newest Bluetooth headset has just become official, bringing with it a behind-the-ear design, a wireless portable charger (which doubles as a carrying case) and Noise Blackout Extreme technology to keep things quiet when your yammering. There's also a "nearly invisible touch-controlled volume pad" on the outside of the headset, a battery good for 8 hours of talk time (or 12 days in standby), dual BT pairing support and A2DP compatibility. Unfortunately, you'll have to waltz into an AT&T retail store starting on November 8th to get one, and worse still, you'll walk out $129.99 poorer. But hey, you'll leave Stoned. (Sorry.)
I wanna get Stoned!
no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy
2 months later it will be $39.99 just like every other piece of #$% they come out with
You can't put a price tag on getting stoned...
You'll notice that the specs for battery life are when used in combination with the Stone charger...
Which means that the stone charger has a battery that will recharge the headset for a maximum of 8 hours talk and 12 hours standby... But that doesn't mean you can use the headset for 8 hours straight...
What's the battery life like when the earpiece is on its own? How long can it be used before being placed into the Stone charger?
According to http://www.jabrastone.com
8 hours talk time / 12 days standby with Stone charger
2 hours talk time / 2.5 days standby with earpiece alone
I think they also said 2 hour charging time for the Stone with earpiece (presumably from empty).
The other question is related to A2DP. Does it do stereo with a secondary ear plug like the Plantronics Voyager 855?
From Wikipedia:
This profile defines how high quality audio (stereo or mono) can be streamed from one device to another over a Bluetooth connection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth_profile
So, as you can see - A2DP defines audio quality and not specifically the number of audio channels...
And that's why he asked if it did stereo with 2, thanks for not helping.
So, ass you can see... the question was, does the Stone offer a "secondary ear plug". Does it offer a way to get sound into the other ear like the Plantronics Voyager 855 The 855 has a second earplug with a short detachable cable to allow for stereo when you wish to listen to stereo. If the cable is not attached, the 855 will still stream A2DP - just Mono (I don't know if it is smart and merges both channels or you just hear the one assigned to that ear).
See http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16875978056 for an image.
I'm intrigued with the Stone as Jabra often has very good noise cancellation. If it can double as stereo headphones, all the better.
"your yammering" should be "you're yammering"
THANK YOU!! Am I the only one a little bit concerned that mistakes like this are now being made by people who write for a career? Commenters making these types of mistakes is one thing, but writers?
s/your/you're/
Even the Engadget staff is functionally illiterate now? Before you know it they'll be talking about Apple and mention "there product" or "they're new unibody Dreamcast iPod dock".
It's great that it uses Micro-USB but since you have to use the charging base to charge the thing it really isn't any better than a proprietary cable like Jawbone uses.
@digiboi: Do you really have nothing better to do than to surf around the vast internet correcting grammar? That is by far the saddest thing I have seen all day.
Yeah we all agree bitching about someone pointing out glaring grammatical mistakes by people who get paid to write is so much more useful in comparison, I'm sure.
Glad you took the time off to alert us.
Actually, bitching about someone who is bitching about someone who is point out glaring grammatical mistakes by humans who are also allowed to make mistakes is the most useful. Duh.
I got all day.
to answer the question: it combines the stereo audio into a single channel for the earpiece. no secondary earplug.
I found an online store selling these. Looks like they have it in stock.
http://www.msgdigital.com/productdetail.asp?productid=48295
I purchased one and it was horrible. The earpiece actually hurt my ear to the point of not being able to wear it after about 5 hours or so. I need to keep it on for work, while I work with my hands, and it is sometimes on for 8+ hours. I couldn't possibly do that with the Stone. It is bulky and unforgiving in the ear canal. The sound was horrible, I had to yell in order for people to hear me over the background noise while in a normal store setting or in my 4WD car. I returned it after 2 days. I wouldn't pay $25 for this thing, let alone $129...