New Samsung Bluetooth headset is a boneful

Damian Koh | Dec 04, 2006

We hear yer, Samsung, loud and clear, even though it's chaos here at ITU Telecom World in Hong Kong, thanks to your new Bluetooth headset equipped with Bone Conduction Microphone technology.

We use our ears for hearing and that's a given fact. But did you know that sound is transmitted not just through air? Our bones and skin can transmit the vibrations of our voice, too, so we can hear ourselves talk even with our ears covered.

Samsung claims to be the first out with its Bluetooth headset--the WEP400--which features Bone Conduction Microphone technology, but we've see similar devices. Sound is transmitted via the vibrations in the user's jaw bone, which in turn generates vibrations in the ear drums. With the new headset, sounds will not be lost through the air and users can hear clearly even at noisy locations, according to the company.

Hopefully, obnoxious users shouting inconsiderately into their mobile phones will be a thing of the past. And that surely calls for a celebration. The WEP400 will be launched commercially in the first quarter of 2007 though Asian availability is still anyone's guess.

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