Aliph has revealed the next generation of its Bluetooth headsets - the Jawbone Icon. Like its previous editions, the Jawbone Icon attempts to marry up design chops with advanced noise cancelling features, but this time around things are a little more complex than before.

Aliph has once again improved its NoiseAssassin technology, which tries to work out what sound is your voice and what sound is background noise, reducing the latter to allow the former to come through clearly. There's the same ability to connect eight phones at once to the headset, too, and talk on two at the same time.

If one of those phones happens to be an iPhone, you'll notice something rather nifty - a battery indicator in the upper-right corner of your display. Jawbone is the first non-Apple headset to enable this feature, and Apple's "aware" of it so it's unlikely to get patched out.

But most intriguing is a software platform called MyTALK that lets you personalize several aspects of the device - almost like an App Store, but where everything is free. You can pick a voice from a selection that includes The Ace, the Hero, the Thinker, the Bombshell, the Rogue, and the Catch, as well as the default voice that comes with the device.

You can also download "Dial" apps that offer you an easy-access button that links to a service of your choice, like directory assistance, voice dial or voice-to-SMS services.

The Jawbone Icon comes in six designs, named after the aforementioned voices. Battery life comes in at around 4.5 hours of talktime and 10 days of standby. It's not yet clear if the device is coming to the UK (though we wouldn't bet against it) but it's available now in the USA costing around $100.

Via: engadget.com

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