Have you used public transport recently? If you have, good on you! We should all try and reduce our Carbon Footprint in some way…..woah! This is meant to be a headphone review, not a critique on how we should deal with problems concerning our environment!
Sorry. However, if you have been on a bus or train recently, no doubt you would have heard a muted, thumping bass coming from one of the ruffians at the back. I think a lot of people confuse sound quality with volume, and that is why public areas and within, personal space, can be invaded by bass beats.
There is no need for this! Experts predict that one in ten 30-year-olds could be wearing a hearing aid by 2020 due to irreversible hearing damage caused by continuous exposure to loud music from earphones.
The fine people at Phonak have realised just how important sound quality is. Phonak are the world’s leading manufacturer of hearing instruments. They have extended its popular range of earphones with a new model designed for music-fans seeking a dynamic, powerful bass sound.
Launched in June, Audéo Perfect Bass earphones are fitted with specially designed, in-built filters that ‘tune’ sound waves to boost low frequencies and provide cleaner bass tones. The result is a punchier more exciting output, that doesn’t compromise on the overall sound quality.
Your ears pick up these enhanced tones, so you do not have to have the volume set so loud. During testing, I listened to the best cd ever made (Ryan Adams - Love is Hell). I couldn’t tell you how many times I have listened to this before, but it is a ridiculous number for sure. I chose this cd as I know it so well…..or so I thought. With the Audéo Perfect Bass earphones, I picked up twangs and bass lines I didn’t hear previously. Stunning.
Utilising their experience in comfort and fit, the latest innovation from Phonak includes three sets of interchangeable, silicone ear pieces – each ergonomically designed to sit comfortably in the ear, even after hours of use. As well as increasing stability and reducing cable noise, this extra secure fit reduces unwanted external noise by up to 23 decibels – the equivalent of ambient music in a restaurant or background conversation.
Audéo Perfect Bass Earphones are available in black from www.audeoworld.com, priced at £85 with a microphone and £68 without. They are compatible with all standard MP3 players, iPod and iPhone models with a 3.5mm stereo jack.
I would recommend getting these ‘phones and then putting on your favourite ever cd. It’s amazing what you never picked up before, These headphones are very clever.
Now, this is impressive!
Aliph is the maker of the revolutionary Jawbone Headsets, and they may well be your new best friend! Jawbone is being worldly recognised as the Noise Assassin, offering people solace, in a way of being heard against any noisy environment.
This is perfect timing, especially for all those football fans out there. With the Jawbone, people can now be heard against the Vuvuzela fuelled Stadium noise. And, by gosh can they make a deafening noise, especially when hundreds are blasted at the same time!
Jawbone say:-
“Aliph makes personal technology comfortable, usable, and beautiful. The flagship product, the award-winning Jawbone Bluetooth headset with NoiseAssassin™ technology set a new standard for mobile voice quality. Unmatched in the industry, Aliph’s NoiseAssassin technology was originally perfected with DARPA for battlefield applications. It eliminates background noise and provides unparalleled call clarity in all environments.”
So, by cancelling out virtually all unwanted background noise with the amazing ‘Noise Assassin’ technology, you can talk wherever you what! If you are reporting from a football stadium; calling home from a noisy pub; phoning from a building site; the only thing the person at the other end of the phone will hear is your voice. Fantastic!
The Jawbone starts at a marvellous £49.99. However, Aliph is offering 30% off any Jawbone bought from its European online shop - all customers need to do is enter the promo code ‘Vuvuzela’.
For more details on Jawbone products, or to buy a Jawbone with 30% off go to http://www.jawbone.com
If your Dad is a ‘green’ Dad, likes to have everything ‘Eco’, and is also hooked on his iPhone, smartphone, iPod or the new iPad, then porporta have the ideal gift for him this Fathers Day. This truly eco range of mobile accessories are just beautifully designed and look very smart indeed. My very generous and kind friends recently bought me an iPod for my birthday, and the only thing missing was that perfect cover to protect it. Now I have found the most amazing looking holder for it.
The skilfully designed Recycled Leather Case looks very chic. It hosts a bamboo screen protection that will protect your handheld device from knocks and bumps, much needed if you are forever on-the-go, like most of us are! The Bamboo plate which comes with the packaging, also acts as your screen shield by simply popping into the top of your case, very clever indeed.
Other options available are a pouch style in either recycled leather or in a soft hessian. These also offer protection by inserting the bamboo plate in these options.
Proporta has themselves declared to be really proud of their new product range. Joint founder Guy Monson states:-
“In early 2008, we decided that we wanted to do more than simply pay money to offset carbon emissions and rename products “green”. Ever since then we’ve been conducting extensive research on how we can run our business in a more sustainable manner – looking at every aspect, from the drawing board to the manufacturing and supply chain. Proporta Smart is the culmination of this and we hope we shall be able to adapt some of the best features from the range into the rest of our products”.
The Proporta Smart range is available to purchase online from http://www.proportasmart.com priced at:
£29.95 for the Recycled Leather Case with Bamboo Screen Protection, £19.95 for either of the pouches and £34.95 for the Recycled Leather Case for iPad
The Recycled Leather Case with bamboo screen protection is available for Apple 2G iPod touch, Apple 5G iPod nano, Apple 2G iPod classic, Apple iPhone 3G S, Blackberry Bold 2 & HTC Desire.
There’s a new toy on the market that acts as a ‘buddy’ for kids when they are surfing the web. The Chatman is a USB toy that plugs into your PC that you can talk to… and he’ll talk back. However bizarre that sounds, it’s a cracking little gizmo that will brighten up your child’s day for sure. You can chat to the ‘Chatman’, he’ll pick up on your tone of voice and conversation and mirror back… it’s quite surreal I can assure you.
BUT, the best thing about the Chatman is that he can keep an eye on what your kids are up to on the internet without them even knowing. He works with all of your usual messenger programs like Yahoo, Facebook, Myspace and a few others. He also keeps an eye on the websites that are visited. He won’t prevent anyone from visiting them, he’ll just frown upon them.
He has moving eyes, arms, ears and an LED emoticon mouth. He also has over 500 different actions and a total of 25 moods. Available everywhere this summer for around £40.
Jabra launched the Extreme Headset earlier this year and it is something they should be proud of. Jabra’s reputation for delivering noise cancelling technology will grow even more – This is an outstanding Bluetooth headset.
Noise Blackout™ Extreme with dual microphones ensure superior audio, giving a clarity that does away with the robot voice that can often be heard through these types of headsets.
The Jabra extreme also reduces or raises the volume automatically. It really will pick up on a quiet voice and adjust the volume as required. This is so important, the reason for these headsets is to keep your hands free, so no more fumbling around with the volume controls.
A stunning standby time of 10.5 days is complimented with 5.5 hours actual talk time. Charging options are USB, car or mains.
In addition, a unique new Ultimate-fit Eargel™ has been developed to guarantee superior comfort for all day use.
The Jabra Extreme can be connected to two devices at the same time, making the transition between PC and mobile, or music and talk, amazingly easy.
The look of the headset is sleek, cool and very modern, as you might expect of Jabra. The performance is also of the same high standards of any other Jabra model. The price is surprising - £59.99, you get an awful lot for your money.
