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US Army's smart earplugs spare soldiers from loud noises
As you might imagine, soldiers can't just use garden variety earplugs to protect their ears. It might tone down the sounds of explosions and gunshots, but it'll also prevent them from hearing a crucial command or an enemy on the other side of a doorway. It's less of an issue for the US Army these days, though. The military branch has been gradually rolling out a smart earplug, TCAPS (Tactical Communication and Protective System), that adapts to the audio realities of war. The smartphone-linked device softens louder noises, but amplifies quieter ones; if your squad leader needs to issue a command, you'll hear it over the din of battle.
What happened to Motorola's bone conduction Bluetooth headset?
Last year, we were told by a source very close -- nay, very very close -- to Motorola that the Invisio Q7 design that the company had bought from Nextlink (which has since renamed itself Invisio, ironically) would see release by summer of 2008. Well, we're into spring of 2009 at this point and there's no sign of it. We'd asked for an official update late last year and were given a "no comment" sort of response, and since then, we haven't seen any teasers or announcements that would indicate this thing is close to release. Noise reduction is getting pretty damned good in modern Bluetooth headsets, but even the best models are rendered unusable in circumstances where true bone conduction would shine -- high winds, for example -- so we're anxiously awaiting this thing's release. Motorola, what say you -- is this tech dead for some reason you haven't shared with the world? Was your pricey purchase a bust?
Motorola releasing first bone conduction headset this summer
We've learned from a source close to the project that Motorola is planning on rolling out a bone conduction headset "this summer" based on Nextlink's technology. This totally jibes with recent news that Moto and Nextlink had partnered up -- and furthermore, that the long-overdue Invisio Q7 would be straight up Moto branded by the time it actually hit store shelves -- and sure enough, the photo we've been provided certainly looks like a Q7 in Moto clothing. We don't have anything else solid at this point, but we're told that the headset performs brilliantly in windy conditions, a common complaint for Jawbone owners. Motorola, Nextlink, whomever, we don't really care what this thing is called, we're just happy to hear we'll finally have it out in the next few months.
Nextlink's Invisio Q7 finally sees FCC approval
Wow, we'd darned near forgotten about this thing. Remember the Invisio Q7, Nextlink's hot little bone conduction number from mid '06 that was promised for delivery by the end of the year? Yeah, it never showed up -- until now. It may not be for sale just yet, but at least a few folks at the FCC have had a chance to check it out (ick, we hope they changed earbuds as they passed it around), giving us hope that it'll finally show up in stores in time for the holidays. The $200 price point still puts a sour taste in our mouths, but considering how much smaller it looks than the similarly-spec'd Jawbone, it may end up being worth every penny.
Nextlink's new bone-conduction headset goes Bluetooth
It's hard not to love the concept of bone-conduction headsets: government-funded technology (much like the iPod), fairly positive reviews on sound quality in noisy environments, and most importantly, they represent the closest most of us will ever get to bionic implants. The tech is still fairly young, though, and previous entries from Nextlink and Aliph have come up short in the size and, uh, wire departments. Nextlink's at it again with their latest entry, the Invisio Q7, and both issues appear to be solved. The Q7 takes the shape of Nextlink's well-liked Bluespoon line, adding Bluetooth and a send/end button for good measure. At $200, the headset is a bit steep when it looks to drop toward the end of the year, but if it means we can hold a phone convo in the middle of a raucus Engadget reader meetup, we're all for it.[Via phoneArena]
