Sony Ericsson unveils its “Motion Activated” headphones

The Sony Ericsson MH907 earbuds rightly claim to be the first “motion activiated” headphones that feature SE’s “SensMe Control.”  What does it do?  When you place the earbuds into your ears, your music starts playing, no button mashing required.  If you take a bud out of one ear, the music pauses, either to answer a call or to carry on conversation with a nearby pal.  How does this work?   The bud “requires [a] conductive surface to activate the controls.”  Basically, when the buds touch the surface of your ear they know to start playing the tunes.  When they are taken out from your ear they “sense” the removal and pause the music.  So you won’t have any problems shoving the ‘phones in your pocket; they won’t turn on becuase they are not hitting a conductive surface.

Engadget has received this claficiation from SE: “SE has further clarified that the technology is capacitive in nature. In other words, removing an ear bud isn’t breaking the flow of current between buds (and across your noodle) — it’s destroying the dynamic capacitor formed by the touch of human skin.”  Although this tech is not going to change things “forever” (as Sony Ericsson put it before the today’s unveil) it should make some impact in the market.  Let’s wait and see if competitors try to up the ante.

The MH907 is available this week for “most Sony Ericsson phones with a fast port connector” for 39 euros, or roughly 60 US dollars.

[Via Engadget; Sony Ericsson]

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