Posted by mtc on 22 November, 2007
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.
FREETALK is for the hear and now. It does not distract you from the now. It does not promise a future that is not ready. It does not try to pretend you are in the past.
1. Other types of Skype hardware struggle with gear that is trying to bring skype to Skype-non-users. Make it look like a normal desk telephone, and give the simple number dialing usage model a home on the skype network. Harder sell. Gotta sell on lower cost. Gotta teach people new features. People who would get this are likely more attached to their PCs.
2. Or bring Skype to platforms where potential users are using a different telephony service. Run Skype on my mobile phone, now you’ve got to be better than the experience of making call on my mobile.
Posted in Avnera, AvneraAudio, FREETALK, Skype, birth of raven, gadgets, headset, wireless | 17 Comments »
Posted by mtc on 11 November, 2007
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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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?”
Posted in Avnera, Skype, audio, cool technology, gadgets, headset, wireless | 3 Comments »
Posted by mtc on 23 October, 2007
HONG KONG — So for those who can put 2 and 2 and 4 together, it may not come as a suprise that I work for a company called Avnera. I’ve not mentioned it before since we’ve been in “stealth” mode, which has its advantages, no doubt. But it’s also a good thing when the story does get out, and that has begun as we issue our first press release and make some early product announcements with some of our early customers… customers whose products have been much discussed here at Alive Matters. Namely the RF-WHTIB from Rocketfish and the AWD210 from Acoustic Research.
Here’s a list of public information and press coverage of our company and products:
Additional coverage will be seeping out over the coming days, and most folks around Avnera are happy to be able to tell their families what the late hours have been about for the past 3.5 years.
It’s kinda funny to read how our meticulously crafted and technically-precise pitch has been interpreted and relayed to the masses. The craft of stroytelling and reporting is one I’ve grown up understanding from my father, who was a journalist by training and throughout most his life, lived with the spirit of storytelling. But as a technically-minded, detail-oriented person — who from day two has been continuously tasked with helping craft our “story” — to see what happens as the meat passes through a writer/critic’s gray-matter is a minor roller coaster. But overall, I am gratified that the core of our message has penetrated through. Our technology comes from a fundamentally sound, grounds-up systems-based approach to problem solving, and delivers a wireless audio solution that is robust and easy to use, and probably most important, affordable enough to enable true, mass-market applications. Premium performance, at mainstream prices. That’s why we’ve been able to raise $40+ Million, all on a positive-slope valuation curve, and enable a diversified set of early customer applications. There are still kinks in these muscles as we continue to “get warm”, and there will be growing pains, as anyone with startup experience knows, but it’s been an exciting adventure for a gadget guy who definitely shares the meaty grin of one of our founders, Chris O’Connor (pictured in today’s local rag, captured at the right).
Personally, I look forward to being able to share more about our progress and our technology. If detailed answers are what you seek, or if you wish to design with Avnera, contact corporate via the web. If you’re an interested tech-geek or general consumer, chime in on threads here at Alive Matters, if it’s fit to print, and I don’t smell a rat, you’ll get the most accurate take on matters that I am at liberty to discuss. And again, this blog is not officially affiliated with Avnera, and it will always be my intention to blog what I can and should. And it follows, that whatever opinions I express are strictly my own.
The covers have been taken off our first two product lines, but there is much more to come, so stay tuned…
Posted in Acoustic Research, Avnera, audio, cool technology, headphones, headset, marketing, personal, rocketfish, wireless | 2 Comments »
Posted by mtc on 6 October, 2007
Logitech ClearChat comfort USB headset is a nice piece. I really believe in usb headphones and headsets. They sound amazing, free of hard drive noise, and other audio imperfections you get from the standard headphone jacks on a PC. Using the USB socket ensures a purely digital stream that is crystal clear and enables cool things like playback controls and volume control from the headset itself via the USB-HID mechanism. HID stands for human interface device and is a way to add control to the mix. Keyboards and things like that use HID. But audio devices that make use of HID opens up many new application possibilities.
I can think of ways to make this experience much better. How about you?
I bet the World of Warcraft and Skype faithful know exactly what I am talking about. How can we make the PC audio experience better?
Posted in HCI, Logitech, USB, audio, gadgets, headphones, headset | Leave a Comment »
