"Skype Gear" caught my eye with the 3 Skypephone

In my trolling for product chatter related to Avnera, I found myself at one of my favorite corporate-sponsored blogs, Skype Gear, Skype's own blog on hardware, which merely mentioned the FREETALK wireless stereo headset.  But alas, no review yet... we're looking forward to it when it hits.

What peeked my interest was their mention of the 3 Skypephone.  I think we're heading where I hope we're heading.  More bandwidth for IP-only traffic on my handset, please.

Skype Journal gives high praise to FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset

Jim Courtney at Skype Journal put the FREETALK through the paces, and offered his first impressions... and I quote:

Today is my day of liberation!... Beethoven's 9th has finished now; the pianissimo phrases were soft, the chorale fortes did not distort; you could clearly hear every word of the chorus in the fourth movement. On finishing the first draft of this post I received a Skype call, answered the front doorbell and let the dog back in at the back door, all while continuing the conversation. At US$79 or £50, this is probably the one most useful new technology hardware item for everyone on your gift list with either a Windows or Mac PC.

Read the full article here.

Skype FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset is for today’s Skype users… not tomorrow’s… not yesterday’s.

SkypeJournal's recent series on Skype's forward moving strategies included a discussion on the relevance of hardware. Well this Christmas, a piece of hardware near and dear to my heart will be ready to ship. I've written about the FREETALK in another post, so no need to repeat.

The nicest thing about this device... it is a very simple and elegant hardware solution that imporves the way *current* Skype users experience voice chat.

The reason I believe in the FREETALK headset so much, is that it is geared for the hear-and-now. It does not distract Skype-users from the now --- it does not promise a usage model that is not mature, and similarly it does not try to attach legacy behaviors to a modern experience, which Skype is rightfully so.

Many other types of Skype hardware -- which you will see sold on Skype.com -- come in the form of gear that is trying to bring Skype to Skype-non-users by appealing to lagcy usage models. The most popular tactic is to make the hardware look like a old-fashioned desk-telephone, and allow the user to use simple number-dialing to place calles on the skype network. To me, this is a hard sell. If this usage model is so important, then the user won't value the new features... and then you gotta sell on lower cost, and even that's a pretty complicated message to convey. To realize the added value of Skype, you gotta teach people about then new features. People who are willing and able to grok this, are already more attached to their PCs, anyways.

The other way Skype is trying to branch out via hardware is by hopping onto other broadband enabled platforms... wi-fi phones or 3G mobiles. Today, that too is cumbersome at best. Perhaps Android has ways of addressing this, but today, Skype on a 3G handset only competes against the entrenched telephony service. If a user runs Skype on their mobile phone, first of all, it's a rare breed who can connect all the dots, and even then it's a niche long-distance, world traveller scenario that can realize any real benefit.

I'm rambling a bit... the key is, the FREETALK leaves all these wish-ware devices for the early-early adopters. The FREETALK is hear to help last year's early adopters of Skype, break away from their desktop, and roam free about the house while using their favorite VoIP service that has become part of their connected repertoire.

They'll also find it a damn good PC accessory.

FREETALK Wireless Stereo Headset - Skype Certified

Finally. Our first wireless stereo headset! It is available just in time for the holidays. If you use Skype more than 5 times a week, this headset will be your new best friend, I can guarantee it. I've been carrying my proto with me for the better part of this year, and it's held up relatively well in my bag, taking many beatings. It sounds great, and works flawlessly. The range on FREETALK's version is just over 35 feet. It will best the two other cordless options shown on this page. They are both based on Bluetooth... stop yawning, you'll want to hear this.

People often ask how we compare to Bluetooth... often phrased as, "why wouldn't I just use Bluetooth?" The few (powerful) reasons are:

1. FREETALK requires no driver installations. Freetalk is plug & play. Plug it in, wait for Mac OS or Windows to recognize it, and about 20 seconds later you are off to the races.


2. FREETALK achieves better than 30 feet of range. Our system's wireless audio coding gives you a few more meters than BT can at the same transmit power. Just try it. You'll get 35-40 feet in most conditions, and up to 60 feet in very clean RF interference & obstacle environments.


3. FREETALK gives you high fidelity stereo audio & wideband voice!!! The Freetalk headset natively supports 48 kHz uncompressed stereo audio to the headset, and 16 kHz wideband voice from the headset's mic.... wait for it... at the same time. Boom. (Gamers rejoice - use it for World of Warcraft, Ventrillo, you name it) You have to hear it to believe it. With BT, you're required to use a different profile (A2DP), which does not support simultanous usage of the microphone, AND it compresses the hell out of the audio using a very crude compression scheme called SBC (sub-band coding). About as clean as 96 kbps mp3 in best cases.


4. FREETALK costs less. Don't even get me started.

Anyways, let's hear about what you think. Check it out, and report back here. I'm pretty sure you'll be asking straight-away, "why hasn't this existed before?"

LTB Q-Bean is bouncing at you now…

Heh heh. The Q-Bean. For a while our customer has been telling us this thing was going to be huge. What I can say is that while it's form factor is quirky, and its marketing even quirkier, the usability and sound quality you'll experience is unmatched.

There are two variants of the Q-Bean.  Basically the main difference is the type of audio transmitter device that it comes with.  The Q-Bean-ST comes with a stereo line-input sender device that can run on batteries or be powered from the wall.  The Q-Bean-U comes with a USB audio sender, and supports a microphone back-channel.

The Q-Bean-U version is simply plug & play, and converts your favorite pair of headphones into a full blown headset targeted at all manner of PC multimedia applications: Music, DVDs, VoIP, gaming, you name it.

One fascinating bundle that LTB Audio managed to cut was with One Voice. One Voice has a voice recognition software add-on for Windows Media Center that allows you to voice command your PC to do all manner of cool things. The bundle includes the Media Center Communicator application software and a Q-Bean-U, and it's available on Amazon @ $174.99. It can also be bought directly from One Voice @ 174.99.

The Q-Bean has received a few mentions around the internets of late... check out reviews and listings here:

Q-Bean-U on Amazon.com @ $77.00

Q-Bean-ST on Amazon.com @ $85.00

Q-Bean-U on Radioshack.com @ $119.00

Q-Bean-ST on RadioShack.com @ $129.99

Coverage at Engadget

Coverage at CrunchGear

Review at OverclockersClub

Lust at I4U