CES: Hands On with the Kleer Wireless Earbuds | Gadget Lab | WIRED
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`GEAR SCIENCE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS SECURITY DESIGN OPINION MAGAZINE VIDEO
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`GADGET LAB
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`CES 2007
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`CES: Hands On with the Kleer Wireless
`Earbuds
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`BY ROB BESCHIZZA 01.10.07 | 4:41 PM | PERMALINK
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`I’ve been testing Bluetooth headsets for a while, because I can’t
`stand the way headphone cords tangle and snag. But the ones
`I’ve tested have shared one big drawback: they get
`uncomfortable pretty quickly due to the weight of the batteries
`hanging from your ears. I’ve heard of a couple of models that
`sound a bit lighter, but the headphones would still have to be connected, ruling out an
`independent earbud design.
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`Kleer, having operated in stealth mode for the past four years, showed of their new wireless
`earbuds that forgo Bluetooth for a 2.4 GHz digital RF signal that can be sent to each earbud
`wirelessly, obviating the need for a wire connecting the two. And these suckers are small –
`not much larger than traditional wired earbuds. Still, neither of those things would matter
`if they didn’t sound good. I tried Kleer’s reference earbuds on today at Kleer’s booth, and
`am happy to report that they sound excellent. These are the wireless earbuds I have been
`waiting for, and they’re only going to get better when more polished designs start showing
`up (I think they could use a rubber seal for sound isolation and remaining lodged in joggers’
`ears).
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`There are a number of keys to Kleer’s ability to provide such an advanced wireless earbud.
`With the idea of keeping battery weight to a minimum, they designed the earbuds to use as
`little power as possible, and it appears they succeeded. The model I tried is rated for fve
`hours, which is more than enough considering that they can’t be used on planes anyway
`(Kleer is also working on a 10 hour model that’s slightly bigger, which Thomson/RCA will
`include with its Jet Stream player later this year).
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`The transmitter has 16 channels to switch between, which helps avoid interference. My
`main worry with these earbuds was that they use the same frequency as Wi-Fi and would
`encounter interference, but these things sounded great even on the wireless-intensive CES
`show foor (if they work there, they’ll work anywhere). The transmitter uses lossless
`compression (16-bit, 44.1KHz), the data rate maxes out at 2.37 MB/sec, and multiple
`listeners can listen to the same transmitter at the same time. When I paused the iPod Nano
`the transmitter was connected to, I determined that the latency was under a quarter of a
`second or so, eliminating another potential problem with these earbuds.
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`CES: Hands On with the Kleer Wireless Earbuds | Gadget Lab | WIRED
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`At a CES that many have found to be underwhelming from an innovation perspective, the
`Kleer earbuds gave me the only "aha!" moment I’ve had here yet. Kudos to Kleer, and also
`to Thomson/RCA for realizing the value of including them with the Jet Stream.
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`-Eliot Van Buskirk
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`Tags: CES 2007
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