Hi, Mike May, the CEO of Sendero Products who make a variety of 
GPS products for use by blind folks, was really promoting those 
just after the CES in Las Vegas a couple month ago.  He even had 
a promotional going where you could enter a promo code and get a 
fair discount on those.  But it's gone now.  I didn't get the 
Aftershock headphones, but it sounded very interesting.  Jim 
WA6EKS

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Kelvin Marsh <[log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Date sent: Fri, 17 May 2013 10:11:46 +0100
Subject: Interesting headphones!

Hi All,

Just listened to a Podcast about the open ear bone conducting 
headphones
from Aftershokz (note the spelling).  These were designed for the 
low vision
wearer, and the concept is to give you a third ear.  The 
earpieces are worn
in front of the ears, on the jaw bone, and this means your ears 
are not
covered.  This is ideal if you are out and about and using 
talking
applications such as GPS, wear hearing aids, and has all sorts of 
radio
possibilities.  The wired versions are sold on Amazon, and the 
Bluetooth
version is imminent on back order.  The reviews I've read have 
been mainly
from sighted sports wearers, so they certainly have mainstream 
appeal too.

It looks like these were initially designed for smart phones, but 
I assume
the wire versions plug into any 3.5mm socket, and I think there 
are
Bluetooth interfaces available for rigs.  One of the wired 
versions also
comes with a microphone, but I assume this only works for a smart 
phone.  I
personally would prefer the Bluetooth version anyway, and it 
looks to be
exactly what I'm looking for.

The Amazon reviews seem positive, and the main page for the 
Bluetooth
headset is:

http://www.aftershokz.com/AfterShokz-Bluez-Open-Ear-Bluetooth-Hea
dphones-p/a
s330.htm

The podcast where I learned of the headsets was on Applevis and 
is number
310.

I wonder if anyone else has tried these?

Best wishes, Kelvin Marsh - M0AID

Working to improve accessibility for radio amateurs with 
disabilities

www.active-elements.org

For accessibility evaluations of amateur equipment and MP3 
manuals