We came across this lip reading prototype during our exploration of the CeBIT 2010 halls, and while we’re a bit tardy in bringing it to your attention, there’s a certain timeless quality to strapping your face with wired sensors that transcends conventional restrictions of timeliness. That’s our story anyway. Devised by researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, it picks up the motion of speech (via electromyography ) without requiring the sound, and then translates it into audible communication via a delightfully cold and robotic voice. The purposes of such a project are obvious — from helping people who’ve lost their speech to making private telephone conversations actually private — but the fun is in seeing someone use the thing in its current unrefined form. You’ll be able to do that just past the break.

Looking to get a Bluetooth earpiece without actually upping your tool factor by 40x or so? Good luck. Helium Digital’s so-called alternative (that’d be the HDBT-990 Bluetooth wristband ) was recently reviewed by our iPhone-lovin’ pals in the Great White North, and while they found it to work well when it came to handling calls without actually using the speaker and microphone within the iPhone 3GS, everything else about it was ho hum at best. There’s no inbuilt LCD for watching Caller ID streams, the mini-USB jack was “flimsy,” and there’s still the issue of this unit being at least somewhat unsightly.

We know the rule of thumb is to not trust everything on Craigslist, but when an unreleased refresh of the cool-looking Jawbone Bluetooth headset pops up for sale, it’d be wrong to ignore it. HTCPedia managed to get cozy with Mr. Blurrycam and got a few shots of the supposedly forthcoming Jawbone Icon, which appears to don the same skin pattern as the Jawbone Prime but in a form factor similar to the original Jawbone — quite an odd decision so we remain skeptical, but it’d be a welcoming addition for the market nevertheless. A couple of close-up shots after the break.

This Helium Digital HDBT-990 Bluetooth wristband could be a godsend for businessmen who want to avoid sticky wires and phones to answer a call while jogging, except it does look kind of bland (too hard to add a watch ?). If appearance isn’t what you’re after, this wristband does offer audible caller ID, A2DP (although it’s unclear if you can get stereo output — we see no headphone jack here; probably just for higher mono fidelity), noise cancellation, and vibration alert for both incoming calls and when your phone is out of range — the latter kind of mimicking the nio Bluetooth tag . Battery-wise it’ll do 4 hours of talk time and 160 hours for standby. All yours for $87 starting in February. Helium Digital straps your wrist with HDBT-990 Bluetooth communicator originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:36:00 EST.

What we have here today isn’t just another pair of ordinary headphones: Sony Ericsson ’s MH907 s are button-free, minimalistic headphones that activate upon the magical touch of your skin. Well, your ears to be precise. You must bear in mind that the MH907s are exclusive to Fast port-equipped Sony Ericsson phones thus excluding the forthcoming XPERIA X10 — so chances are you’re already not interested. That said, we shall see if Sony Ericsson is really going to change things forever with these gleaming buds featuring SE’s SensMe Control technology, or by just stopping everyone from using their 3.5mm headphone jacks.

Cartel’s CT-1000 brought about lots of laughs here at Engadget HQ, and frankly, we’re shocked and amazed (and glad) these guys are still hanging tough two years later. The newest in-car handset system is the predictably titled CT-2000, which includes a Bluetooth-enabled handset that’s meant to be permanently installed within your vehicle and wired to your audio system. Once installed, all of your mobile calls can be routed to this — because, you know, chatting on a corded phone circa 1992 is entirely more safe than chatting on your mobile or using a handsfree solution. The only difference we can spot between the new guy and the aged sibling is the addition of music control, a “slimmer” (albeit wider) design, room for your phone contacts and one-touch speed dialing. There’s no mention of a price, but trust us, you’re better off in the dark

It’s tough to muster excitement over a $130 Bluetooth headset nowadays. It feels like peeling yourself out of bed after a breakup, or laughing at a joke during a eulogy for your best friend. So, Jabra, regarding the Stone : Thanks. About a month ago, Jabra sent a little bag out to its regular reviewers. Inside was a stone—a literal, polished stone—and that was it. It was a cheesy PR stunt, the kind we see all the time, but when I got the headset itself, it made sense.