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Jawbone Up wristband sensor: Design for your health
Jawbone is well-known for its stylish Bluetooth headsets, but the company's forthcoming Jawbone Up is designed for a completely different task -- tracking your activity, sleeping, and eating activities. Packaged in an attractive wristband that comes in a range of bright colors, the Up is loaded with sensors and communicates with a companion app on your iPhone or Android phone. For food intake, it's expected that the app will use a photo-based technology like that built into the PhotoCalorie app -- take a photo of your food and the calories are estimated. After it has monitored your movements for a while, the UP and accompanying app are expected to make suggestions to help you live a healthier life. Travis Bogard, Jawbone VP of product management gave Co.Design an example of this in a recent interview, stating "For example, if you haven't slept much, when you wake up the app might suggest a high-protein breakfast and an extra glass of water." Thinking of the UP as a Livestrong wristband with brains, it's easy to see how people would wear such a device constantly for health monitoring purposes. Up is expected to be out by the end of the year, and though the company hasn't set a price, they say it will be "affordable."
Jawbone branches out from audio products, teases "Up" wristband that keeps tabs on your bad habits
According to our calendar, this is one of the least timely days of the year for us to harp on New Year's Resolutions, but that's no matter to Jawbone. The company, best-known for crafting those high-end headsets, is at TED talking up its first non-audio product: a wristband dubbed "Up" that tracks and analyzes your eating, sleeping, and exercise habits -- kind of like a bare-bones Fitbit or Nike+. As you can see in that photo up there, it's about the size of those ubiquitous rubber Livestrong bands and lacks a display (not to mention, wireless radios) -- all concessions made in the name of keeping the cost down, says Travis Bogard, VP of product marketing and strategy. So, this is a good 'ol wired product, with a bundled adapter connecting the band to your phone via the 3.5mm jack. Once you connect, you can view all your data on a website or through a mobile app. Or, if you thrive on public shaming, you can challenge people to fitness duels to the death (our phrasing, not Jawbone's). All told, this falls outside the outfit's comfort zone, but then again, it does know a thing or two about wearable tech. For now, the company's keeping mum on pricing and availability, though it says Up will be available in the states later this year. As for compatibility, well, Bogard tells us it's going to work with "all the relevant" mobile platforms. Make of that what you will, folks.
Jawbone Era sticks an accelerometer in your noise-canceling headset, we go hands-on
With a fantastic Bluetooth headset on the market and a pumpin' portable speaker to blast out jams, how could Jawbone improve their product lineup? Well, we still think a stereo headset might be swell... but that's not what the company delivered today. No, this is the Jawbone Era, the world's first Bluetooth earpiece with a built-in accelerometer for motion-sensing apps, and plenty more improvements where that came from. There's a new version of the company's NoiseAssassin noise-canceling algorithms that adjusts inbound volume and equalization to let you hear better, an extra-large 10mm cone speaker with a larger range of frequencies, two processors, more memory, and an hour of extra battery life compared to the Jawbone Icon, to be specific. With only two motions currently recognized -- a double-tap to begin / end / switch calls and a rapid shake to pair -- the accelerometer's a bit of a gimmick for now, but Jawbone suggests more gestures are probably on the way. In the meanwhile, the other advancements might make the Era worth the price of entry -- which is $130, by the by. We've spent about five hours with the headset already, listening to music and taking calls, and while the accelerometer seems almost wasted at present, there's no discounting that new 10mm driver and the audio it can pump out. While no substitute for a set of quality dedicated earbuds, it sounded worlds better than the Jawbone Icon's tiny, tinny drum, and playing Pandora tracks we no longer felt an overpowering desire to take it out of our ear -- making a cyborg existence all the more bearable, we suppose. We'll bring you a full review soon, but if you're already sold, you'll find four different Era designs on sale at Jawbone's online store... oh, right about now. PR after the break. %Gallery-114734%
Jawbone Jambox vs. Soundmatters foxL v2... fight!
Two portable speakers clamber into the ring, each boasting big, beautiful sound for their diminutive size. Both cost $200. Both have the same technology inside. The Jawbone Jambox and the Soundmatters foxL v2 with Bluetooth each want to be your wireless audio wunderkind, blasting music and taking Bluetooth calls. At best, you're only going to buy one. Which speaker should you choose? Following our Jambox review, we got our hands on a foxL and put the two head to head, and after the break you'll see which one came out on top -- both literally and figuratively. %Gallery-111933%
Aliph gets into the app game with Jawbone Thoughts voice messaging
We know, it's a bit odd to see the Jawbone name attached to something other than a Bluetooth headset or speaker, but Aliph is forging into the application game with a new voice messaging service for iOS. Called Thoughts, the software is basically like text messaging or instant messaging with voice. The free audio-based messaging iPhone app, which should be hitting the App Store today, lets you send short audio recordings to either a single contact or a group with a tap of a button. We got a chance to check it out at the D: Dive into Mobile conference this week and found the whole thing to be a really great way to circumvent voicemails or longer texts -- all you have to do is tap the name of your contact and then leave a short voice message. There's absolutely no ringing or waiting. If and when that contact responds it appears as a threaded message, and if you're in an area that isn't conducive to listening to those thrilling messages, there's also a transcription feature. The app should be hitting today, but if you need more details before tapping install, hit the break for the full press release and a short promo video.
Jawbone Jambox review
You may have already gathered that we're fans of the Jawbone Jambox -- seeing as how it appears in our Holiday Gift Guide -- but does a miniature portable speaker, even one that pumps out 85 decibels, deserve a $200 price? How about that battery life? We've spent weeks now with the little Bluetooth speaker that could, throwing it at every scenario in sight, and after the break you'll find a full review with all the upsides and downsides. %Gallery-106618%
Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth speaker now available for $200
It's hardly the most affordable Bluetooth speaker around, but Jawbone's new Jambox did manage to impress us when we got our hands on it earlier this month, and you can now finally pick one up yourself directly from Jawbone, or at your local Apple store and "select" Best Buy stores. As expected, it'll set you back $200, and it's available in your choice of four different colors / designs, each of which pack the same 800mAh lithium-ion battery that promises ten hours of continuous use, a built-in mic that will let you use it as a speakerphone, and an output capacity of 85 decibels that Jawbone says "fills even the largest rooms with stellar hi-fi sound." If you're looking to judge that for yourself, you can apparently do so at an Apple store, where Jawbone says the Jambox will be "featured alongside the iPad."
Jawbone intros Jambox portable bluetooth speaker, we go hands-on (update)
Since 2006, Jawbone's been making noise-canceling bluetooth headsets boasting modern design and military-grade sound. This is not one of those. This is the Jawbone Jambox -- a wireless bluetooth speaker -- and it's what happened when the company decided to let the music out. Functionally it's almost exactly the same as a Jawbone Icon, down to the pairing process, and MyTALK upgradable software platform, but instead of a tiny mono earpiece you're getting a stylish portable speakerphone with a 3.5mm input jack and some serious stereo potential. We've had it playing for several hours now, and while it's not going to be the life of a large party even at maximum volume, it pumps out a terribly impressive amount of clear, room-filling sound for its size. If you pick it up or set it down on a table, you'll feel the vibrations nearby. You can't quite tell from this angle, but that stainless steel grill wraps around an airtight enclosure made of polycarbonate infused with glass, which houses a pair of full-range drivers and a microphone up front and a "moving-wall passive bass radiator" around back for some extra low-end goodness. We're told this last was quite the innovation, which didn't impress us much until we were told what Jawbone put inside the radiator to ensure mass and rigidity: the unit's 800mAh lithium-ion battery. Speaking of juice, Jawbone tells us the unit's good for about eight hours of continuous playback at 75 percent volume. You'll be paying a good bit to get this designer toy pumping out your jams, as any of the black, red, blue or silver units will run $200 at Best Buy and the Apple Store when they hit November 16th, but if you've been aching for a modern, handheld ghetto blaster, this is definitely one way to go. PR after the break. Update: As some have pointed out in comments, a number of the ideas here aren't actually new -- you can find a very similar portable Bluetooth speaker (down to a patent-pending "BassBattery" and a $200 price) in the Soundmatters foxL v2 with Bluetooth. Update 2: As it turns out, the foxL v2 isn't exactly a competitor, it's an ally of sorts, because the Jambox is a collaboration with the same Dr. Godehard Guenther who invented the original device. "JAMBOX leverages the core analog acoustics that made FoxL great," says a representative, but with numerous improvements: Jawbone's noise cancellation and Bluetooth know-how, a thicker, stiffer speaker enclosure and a Yves Behar design. %Gallery-106618% %Gallery-106677%
What is the Jawbone 'Nerd Dongle'?
Aliph is a company known for producing its line of Jawbone Bluetooth headsets -- emphasis on "headsets." So when we see a product in the FCC from Aliph with Jawbone branding described as the "Nerd Dongle" and looking a whole lot like a USB stick, you can imagine that our curiosity is piqued a bit. From the test report, it seems there's a lot of testing going on in the 2.4GHz range, which would be indicative of either Bluetooth or WiFi... most likely Bluetooth, if we had to bet. Other than that, though, the possibilities are wide open -- we can't imagine this isn't anything more than a standard Bluetooth dongle, especially considering that virtually all laptops have it built-in these days. Any educated (or uneducated) guesses?
Jawbone Icon for Cisco is the for-business Bluetooth headset compatible with VoIP phones
Got a workplace fancy enough to warrant $500 video conferencing VoIP phones? Then Aliph's got a Bluetooth headset you might like to own. From what we can tell from the press release, the Jawbone Icon for Cisco doesn't have anything new in terms of audio quality or styling -- the old adage of don't fix what ain't broke -- but instead adds upgradable firmware and allegedly seamless switching between a Cisco Unified IP Phone (or that Cius tablet) and your personal cell. The idea is that you could walk around all day untethered, and never need to bend over to pick up calls from either phone. The headset's already shipping in the US and Canada with top-tier Cisco phones. Hear that? That's the sound of the last vestiges of humanity fading away as the Bluetooth cyborgs take over. PR after the break.
Hands on with the Jawbone ICON
I recently tested out the new Jawbone ICON Bluetooth earpiece. It's a small hands-free earbud device that you wear in your ear, and talk while on-the-go. At a cost of US$99, the unit provides support for both calls and A2DP-based audio. You can listen to your music and podcasts via the earpiece as well as talking with others. I found the packaging extraordinarily hard to grapple with. There are an insane number of tiny plastic pieces in the box, which has been designed to be eco-friendly rather than to provide a Jonathan Ive-like unboxing experience. All those pieces, however, easily fit into the rigid plastic portion of the package. Once you manage to get the thing open, it's pretty easy to keep track of all the parts.
The Engadget Show: Inside the mind of Yves Behar
Lots of tech companies would like you to believe that they're responsible for the design of its best looking gadgets, but in reality most of them hire outside groups for all that non-spec stuff. And well, if they're smart they get leading industrial designer Yves Behar and his FuseProject team to dream up something incredibly groundbreaking and head-turning. Having birthed the designs of the OLPC XOs and Jawbone headsets we've always been incredibly fascinated by Behar and his knack for coming up with eye-pleasing technology, so naturally we caught up with him when he was in NYC last month and shot some footage of his studio. Uh, so what are you still doing here? Watch it now! Hit up the video after the break! Host: Joanna Stern Special guests: Yves Behar Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Michael Slavens Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Download the Show: The Engadget Show - Segment 006 (HD) / The Engadget Show - Segment 006 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
Jawbone brings new, very iPhone friendly headset to market
Jawbone has a new, feature rich Bluetooth headset called the ICON that is a nice match for the iPhone. New to this headset is a battery meter that displays on the iPhone, something the Apple Bluetooth headset also did. The Apple headset was quietly discontinued last spring after disappointing sales and reviews. The ICON lets you set custom tones and multiple voices to alert you to incoming calls, and a feature called MyTALK that allows you to control mini-apps that change the voices or language (Spanish, French, or German) and allows you to customize a button to call 411 or connect to other voice services. The newest Jawbone has also switched from the old proprietary power connector to a mini micro-USB cable, which is very welcome. The headset also claims to further reduce background and wind noise. The headset now comes in 6 color designs, including variations of black, gold, pearl and black laced with red. The newest addition to the Jawbone line is U.S. $100.00. Even though the new headset has iPhone-friendly features, it's available today at Verizon dealers, with other retailers to follow.
Aliph Jawbone Icon 'The Ace' Bluetooth headset review
While Aliph was announcing its luxurious Jawbone Icon Bluetooth headsets earlier today, we've been playing with one of its six designs -- The Ace -- at our cozy London pad. Being the smallest and lightest Jawbone ever, the Icon's obviously challenging the likes of Jabra Stone with attempts to outperform in noise elimination, battery life, ergonomics and ease of operation. On paper, the Icon already wins on battery life and price, although the Stone has a charging dock good for six extra hours. What really matters, though, is the usability -- something the Stone had little of in a noisy environment. Read on to find out if Aliph has done it right. %Gallery-83293%
Aliph Jawbone Icon Bluetooth headset launched in six lush flavors (Update: video!)
Turns out that leak we saw of the Jawbone Icon was for real after all, but it was only one of the six designs straight out of Aliph's oven: (clockwise from top left) The Thinker, The Rogue, The Hero, The Ace, The Catch and -- our favorite -- The Bombshell. While these are the smallest and lightest Jawbones ever, Aliph has managed to cram in an allegedly improved NoiseAssassin and simultaneous dual-phone linkage, along with an onboard 'AudioApp' which vocally broadcasts battery level and caller ID. If you prefer a visual indication, the Icon also does a battery gauge on the iPhone -- a first on a non-Apple Bluetooth headset -- and apparently "Apple's aware of this" so a firmware update shouldn't kill this Palm Pre-style. We're digging the MyTALK website -- currently in beta -- where you can pick and install other AudioApps and DialApps (for the multifunction button; e.g. voice dialing, free directory assistance and voice-to-SMS) onto the Icon, and both will be free except for some DialApps which require subscription. Oh, and there are seven earbud sizes plus an earloop to keep everyone happy too. When you're done with picking, hit the Verizon stores for the initial launch today and pony up $99.99. Press release and video walkthrough of the MyTALK website after the break. %Gallery-83294%
Jawbone Icon Bluetooth headset leaked on Craigslist?
We know the rule of thumb is to not trust everything on Craigslist, but when an unreleased refresh of the cool-looking Jawbone Bluetooth headset pops up for sale, it'd be wrong to ignore it. HTCPedia managed to get cozy with Mr. Blurrycam and got a few shots of the supposedly forthcoming Jawbone Icon, which appears to don the same skin pattern as the Jawbone Prime but in a form factor similar to the original Jawbone -- quite an odd decision so we remain skeptical, but it'd be a welcoming addition for the market nevertheless. A couple of close-up shots after the break. [Thanks, Brian!]
Screen Grabs: Jawbone gets chewed out by Entourage's Johnny Drama
Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. The best show to ever land on HBO has certainly seen its fair share of hot technology, from last week's Ferrari-fest (with a notable 'holla' to Porsche) to this week's love affair with Aliph's Jawbone. As you can see in the Screen Grab above, Johnny Drama couldn't help but sport the all-black Bluetooth earpiece to match his ebony jacket and equally dark motorcar whilst jabbering to Turtle. Nah, it's not the Jawbone Prime, but we wouldn't put it past Sloan to tease E (again) over one here in the not-too-distant future. Now, if only Marky Mark could convince the suits at Time Warner to allocate an hour per episode to this masterpiece, we'd really be in heaven...[Thanks, SmoothMarx]
Aliph Jawbone Prime hands-on and unboxing
We've got Aliph's new Jawbone Prime in hand, and while it's not much different to look at compared to its predecessor, there's enough new on the noise reduction and ergonomics front to warrant a quick look. Follow along after the break.
Aliph Jawbone Prime arrives to coddle your ears, raid your wallet
It's been almost a year since Aliph last graced the Bluetooth headset world with its presence, and now it's back with the Jawbone Prime to reclaim the throne. The Jawbone Prime is only a minor update -- on the surface, anyways -- to its predecessor, and in fact the only visible change is a slightly different surface pattern and a minor indentation to denote one of the headset's two invisible buttons. Other than the quite welcome addition of Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR (multipoint connections, easy pairing), almost all the improvements under the hood have to do with the algorithm tweaks of NoiseAssassin 2.0 to improve noise reduction. It's really too bad the original isn't firmware-upgradable (we asked). The Prime will be replacing existing Jawbones at retail for the same old $130 pricetag, and comes in Blah Blah Black, Coffee Talk and Going Platinum, while an "EARCANDY" edition is available in Frankly SCARLET, 'YELLO!, Drop Me A LIME and LILAC You Mean It. Both will be available at retail on May 2nd.
Aliph brings Babbling Blue / Rambling Rosé Jawbones to Best Buy
Not sure what exactly was so wrong with Blah Blah Black, Silver Tongue and Goldy Lips, but for those not really turned on by any of the aforementioned hues, you should probably set your navigator to the nearest Best Buy. Aliph has just introduced two new colors in the Jawbone family -- Babbling Blue and Rambling Rosé (shown after the break) -- which will be offered up exclusively at Best Buy Mobile. Same heralded Bluetooth headset, same $139.99 price tag -- just with two new tints.
