Dash earbuds are a huge jump forward in earphone technology. They manage to cram in wireless Bluetooth 4.0 aptX connectivity, 4GB storage, touch-sensitive controls, and fitness tracking including heart rate and oxygen level monitoring.

Dash is currently on Kickstarter, where it's already smashing the target goal. The buds offer passive noice cancelling but also active listening if, for example, you're cycling in traffic. They even track your activity by measuring your heart rate, oxygen saturation, pace, cadence, distance, steps and more - reading them back to you in real-time.

The Dash sounds too good to be true. Certainly the water-resistance claims shown in the video from the perspective of a surfer are a bit over the top. While the buds are designed to fit nice and snug in a user's ears it's unlikely they will withstand much more than running before dropping out. But we look forward to being corrected.

Dash features a 3-axis accelerometer, ambient mic, thermometer, IR LED and optical sensors, an ear bone mic and 5 field capacitive sensors.

Want to hear your pace while running? Just swipe at the bud and it will be read out to you. And they work alone using that 4GB storage to hold all your favourite running tracks. The left-ear touch controls will be for training controls, such as starting and stopping a workout, and the right ear will be for sound like adjusting volume or taking a call.

All that and the 100mAh battery should last three hours for play and tracking time, four hours for play alone, and 250 hours on standby. Charging to full takes less than an hour via USB. The Dash will work with iOS and Android.

So, the big question, how much? Currently they're available for $200 on Kickstarter. While that sounds a lot for earbuds bear in mind you're also getting an MP3 player, microphone Bluetooth headset, USB stick, fitness tracker, heart rate monitor and sports watch all in your ears.