Jawbone (headset) - History

History

The original Jawbone headset was designed by Yves Behar of fuseproject for which it received significant attention, even being shown in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as part of an industrial design exhibit. Both its design and technological innovations were recognized by the Consumer Electronics Show in 2007 when it won an Innovations Design and Engineering Award.

In May 2008, Aliph launched an updated version of the headset called the "New" Jawbone, but often referred to as Jawbone 2, which was again designed by Yves Behar. In addition to a 50% smaller form-factor, this model also incorporated a faster processor for better digital signal processing by the NoiseAssassin technology and a voice activity sensor to further mitigate interference from environmental noise. The Jawbone 2 continued to receive high praise, including winning the 2008 Readers' Choice Engadget Awards in the "Wearable Device of the Year" category. The growing popularity of the headset can be partially attributed to a marketing campaign in which Aliph offered a US$20 discount to drivers that were cited in California for using a mobile phone while driving.

The following year, the firm again launched an update to the Jawbone line, the Jawbone Prime. It incorporated a new version of the company's audio processing technology, NoiseAssassin 2.0, as well as an upgrade to Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR and support for multiple devices. The line was expanded to include 3 standard colors and 4 additional colors offered by the "Earcandy" sub-models.