Noise canceling headphones for $99 & 2 companies you've never heard of
I have a few friends
who would love noise cancelling headphones, but don’t need them enough to shell out $300+ for the Bose models you see advertised all over the place. There are a few cheaper models, some that work better than others, but walking through CES I found a company called Able Planet that makes a solid noise cancelling headphone, similar to the Bose version, for $99. Called their NC200 model, it sounded slightly less perfect that their $299 NC1000CH, but certainly very usable, especially at a price under $100.(picture, $99 version on left, $299 version on right)
The company has their foundation in the medical industry with years of hearing aid technology, so these guys know their stuff. They use those 6 years of research to improve upon their noise cancelling technology, and apply them to headphones now rather than hearing aids. They’re available at Best Buy, BJs and other major retailers now.
I like to think I’m pretty up on tech trends and electronics companies. So I was a little surprised to walk by 2 booths at CES that featured a full lineup of GPS navigation units, digital camera, digital picture frames, netbooks and more- from companies I hadn’t even heard of! Cydle- a Korean company that has been around since 2006- and aigo- a Chinese company that has been around since 1993- are 2 companies that have been known in Asia but are now making a push into the US market.
One product that stood out was a cell phone from aigo that doubles as a Wii style controller. They were demoing a tennis game that you played on your TV using the cell phone as your controller. Pretty cool. It’s a GSM phone, so you buy it, insert a SIM card from AT&T or T-Mobile and you’re off and running.
--Peter
Labels: Able Planet, aigo, Bose, Cydle, noise canceling headphones
This entry was posted by Amber, on Saturday, January 9, 2010. You can
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