Stardust Global Ventures

Yesterday we both received a new FREETALK Everyman headset, and all I have to say is wow. Like many tech sector folks, I’ve been using Skype since the beginning.I can’t count the number of different headsets I’ve used. This one is the only one that’s made me step back and say wow.

The FREETALK Everyman isn’t the smallest headset I’ve used. It’s definitely not earbuds. It’s an over-the-head model with comfortable fit and easy adjustability. I wore mine for quite a while and found it easy to live with. It’s a workday caliber headset to be sure.

For those of us who use Skype as a primary communications tool, the comfort is important, even more so because the sound quality is phenomenal. Skype has done a lot of research and learned that the user’s “end point” configuration is one of the main factors in user churn.. One unpredictable factor in the end user configuration is the PC’s audio chip; there’s an industry wide lack of consistent audio quality across the various PC audio chip sets. Sound cards simply are not all alike.

Many of us have learned that that USB headsets often provide higher quality audio because they move audio processing off the sound card onto the USB device. There is a sound technical reason to use a USB headset.

Recently Skype introduced a new “superwideband” SILK audio codec. It’s designed to support a 12KHz audio bandwidth, has set new benchmarkds for delivering HD Voice performance. If you’ve experienced HD voice on Skype calls, you’ve probably heard the difference. It’s quite detectable to the human ear. There’s tremendous buzz about HD voice in the industry today. It’s significantly better than the odl “toll quality vocie” of the PSTN. And with the SILK codec, FREETALK Everyman delivers HD power in the headset – both the speakers and the mic.

The SILK codec is the result of Skype’s three-year development process aimed at:

• improving the audio bandwidth out to 12,000 KHz
• providing bandwidth management to deal in real time with degraded  network conditions
• balancing the codec optimization between voice, music and background noise, each of which can have an impact on the overall user experience
• overall robustness to provide a more consistent user experience, regardless of network conditions and an individual caller’s voice signature.

Sheryl and I have, at times, traveled a lot. There was a time I traveled 40 weeks a year. Road warriors detest headsets. They’re a nuisane to remember and a nuisance to pack. They’ve never been designed to fit into briefcase or PC carrying bag. They get broken or lost. And, for many of us, there’s been the issue of multiple headsets – One for the PC, one for the  MP3 player and one for our cell phone (probably bluetooth today). The FREETALK Everyman helps because it folds flat! And, if you check out the drawing above, you’ll see there’s a standard 3.5 mm speaker jack that doesn’t just plug into the USB dongle. It fits any MP3 player. I tried it out on the iPod and it was significantly better, if less portable, than the standard earbuds. They’re great for walking or jogging, but for a business traveler who wants relaxing music or an audio book on a plane ride, these are superb.

Yesterday Alec Saunders inverviewed Jim Courtney (who’s been doing a lot of work with the FREETALK team) on a Squawkbox call discussing the FREETALK Everyman. You can listen to the recording here. You can also read Jim’s writeup here.

Gadgets are sometimes a dime a dozen. Headsets aren’t often something to get excited about. The FREETALK Everyman headset is absolutely different. It’s worth every penny of the $22.88 price in the online Skype store. Go check it out and order yours here. It’s an investment you’ll get more than full value from.