Gadgets and such.

Interesting 'new' technology that is beginning to enter the mobile phone arena:

The most unusual feature of the TS41 is the way that you can hold the TS41 to your face to hear a conversation. Similar to electric bone conduction hearing aids, it works by using bone to conduct sound waves. In other words, when you hold the TS41 against your cheekbone, the phone's vibrations are transmitted through your skull to the bones in your inner ear. They vibrate in turn, just as if they were under the influence of a sound wave and send signals into the brain accordingly. Sanyo claims bone conduction technology makes sounds easier to hear, especially in a noisy environment. Some may be pleased to know that the flip phone can also be used in the traditional way, if preferred.

The military has been fiddling with this for a number of years. I tested (for about six months) a system that put the "microphone" on the top of my skull (inside my helmet). It was great until my helmet shifted and lost firm contact with my noggin. It was fantastic in helicopters because I didn't have to yell and/or cover the mike with my hand to block the noise and wind when I was talking. Then again, because I had to push down on the top of my helmet to make the durn'd think work reliably, this brought a whole new meaning to the term "Push to talk." I had to push on my helmet with one hand and push the REAL push to talk button with the other - not the best use of two hands in stressful times.

I've seen other systems that placed "cheekpads" along the jawbone. These served the same function described above for the mobile phone and were fielded on a test basis by some special ops units back in the late '90s. I'm not sure what's available now. As I recall, neither of these two systems managed to incorporate both talking and listening into bone conduction - one required a standard ear piece and the other required a standard mike.

An obligatory hat tip to Paul for the article...

Technology