Jabra Handsfree – Two New Products

Sometimes ignorance is bliss – other times, it just means you’re missing out.  Well, haven’t I been missing out.  I’d never heard of Jabra until it was introduced to me today at the launch of two new products – the Stone 2 and the Freeway.

Jabra make bluetooth handsfree kits for your mobile phone.  Both the in-ear type and the visor mounted style.

Being Danish, the design is stunning, and the features are world class to match.

Click Continue Reading for more info and my thoughts…

Sometimes the people behind the products don’t appreciate how important the simple things are, and that’s truly the case with the Jabra Freeway.

A lot of the demo today was spent telling us how the ‘Freeway’ is HD Voice compliant.  Well, we don’t have that yet – so while that’s a good thing – it’s not a sales driver – yet.

If you’ve not heard of HD Voice – check out this video – it shows clear as anything what it is and the difference it makes.

All I can say is, bring it on!

However, back to Jabra – a little ‘and in other features’ on the Slide shown to me today was two very crucial features which I think sets this device apart from the rest.

1. G-Sensor Power on – So, you’ve got a visor mounted Handsfree – so what.  You forget to turn it on, you never end up using it!  What a waste.  The Jabra freeway DETECTS that you have entered the car by the movement of the car or the door slamming, and bingo, turns itself on!  That’s pure brilliance!
2. Advanced Multi-Use – With the Jabra Freeway, you can be sitting in the car with your husband or wife, both of your phones can be paired to the device AT THE SAME TIME, and when one of you is on the phone, the other phone can ring, you can pick it up, putting the other person’s phone on hold. Again – pure brilliance.

It also has 3 speaker ‘surround sound’ and 2 noise cancelling microphones, so the quality is tops.  Stream your music through the device as you wish too.

Basically, this is a great looking, well featured unit – well worth considering if you’re after the ‘speakerphone’ or visor mounted option for your car.

$149, available soon in JB-HIFI, Dick Smith etc.

The second product launched today is the Jabra STONE 2.

The Jabra Stone 2 is one of those in-ear type Bluetooth units – but with a twist – literally.  Instead of the ‘standard’ ‘dongle’ with a swing arm to go over you ear, this unit is all in one, a stylish looking piece that is flexible to go around your ear and in the ear in one swoop.

It does what most do, but here’s the undersold ‘killer app’s’ of the Stone 2:

1. It fits snugly away in a ‘charging stone’ – which is great, but the best bit is, the charging stone holds battery power, so even when not connected to USB, the ‘stone’ itself is able to push charge back into your ear-piece when ‘docked’
2. There is no volume button – instead the whole ear-piece is touch sensitive, so you slide up to raise the volume and down to lower.

Simple things, that make effective products.

I’ve not yet used either, other than to pair the Stone 2 to my Blackberry which was simple and easy.

The demonstrations I saw showed a great quality sound, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the Jabra Freeway.